Clashing Colors
by Sweey
Summary: <html><head></head>It's been three months since the confrontation with the Organization and now an annonymous assassin is after Stranger, trying to stop him with the dreaded hummingbird blade so that he'll turn into Faceless and destroy everyone and everything.</html>
1. Lingering Regrets

_**Sweey: **__**Why hello everyone! 'bout time I got this done! **____** So, this is exactly what you think it is, that's right, **__**Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger**__** 's sequel: Clashing Colors! So enjoy because I have some awesome new characters to introduce. They won't make their appearance in this chapter and you will be reuniting with some familiar faces. ;D So enjoy this first chapter of a planned many! **_

**Chapter One: **_**Lingering Regrets **_

With quiet footsteps I walked, lengthening my silent strides as I moved through the forest that I had come to know so well. Every root, blade of grass, stone, and tree were mapped enduringly in my mind, enabling me the ability to pass through without stumbling.

My mind was filled today with troubled thoughts. It had been three months since the poison of the hummingbird blade ran through my blood for the last time. Often I found my veins throbbing in my left arm, reminding me without fail of the treachery of the Organization. Though there was truly only one thing that ever gnawed at my anxious mind.

The one I saw that last day when we were making our escape back to Popstar. That figure of shifting gray and his one, glowing, purple eye. It haunted me.

Emit and the others had returned home some days after the event and life in Dreamland had gone back to its blind, slumbering routine. Sir Meta Knight and his knaves once again set to patrolling Castle Dedede as though the past confrontation with the Organization had lost its severity. Fumu took to watching over Kirby and her brother Bun and her visits became less and less frequent as time passed on. That left me the only one still wary of the great problem that rested like cancer beneath the skin of Dreamland's ecstasy.

The Organization still lingered unchallenged throughout the galaxy. During Nightmare's tyranny, the Organization had worked as the intelligence force for his Dark Army as well as the producers of fleet assassins and new subjects to be turned into new recruits of Demon Beasts. With such influence and similarity to the Wanderers' Order they made the perfect rival. Regrettably, none of my fellow Wanderers knew I was both their enemy and their alley.

Day after day I patrolled the borders surrounding Pupuland and her quaint village without cease. For fear if I did, the Organization would creep in undetected and pull Dreamland out from under my feet.

I was nearing Kabuu's Canyon now and began to wonder if the great tree-like being knew how to stop the Organization despite how strong a hold they already had on the surrounding lands. The previous journey with Fumu to the Organization had taken us to another island, though its name was unknown. From what I could recall is that the day I'd been poisoned into submission, I had continued running until I came across foreign soil. I found it familiar from my past after a while, though the dirt there was a rich red-brown as opposed to Pupuland's dark, rich soil.

After the confrontation and the escape, the strange island slowly grew farther apart from Pupuland's island until it became nothing but a gloomy, misshaped figure on the horizon of the blue, ocean waters ever present to remind me of my past misfortune.

"Welcome Stranger the Wanderer. It seems you are still concerned with the strength of the Organization even after our previous conversation. You unknown hunter also brings anxiety upon your troubled soul." Kabuu's yawningly deep voice greeted me as I stepped lightly upon the ancient stone pathway that covered the grounds surrounding the great being.

In reply I merely nodded, knowing there was nothing to explain further to the Kabuu.

"It will not be easy Stranger. It will be impossible to perform the task alone. You must travel back to the shifting island of your past and dispose of Shadox Veroxin. Once that is done, you will find the one it is you seek," he told me.

It was a vague explanation, but I understood his words. "Thank you, great Kabuu." I muttered politely as I briefly bowed.

"Your appreciation is well spoken, Wanderer. Go to the castle, someone is waiting for you there," Kabuu told me, "But be wary of the shadows while you wander."

I nodded; digesting the information he spoke to me and then took my leave, making headway for Castle Dedede where it was perched upon the cliff that overshadowed the village of Pupuland in the valley below.

I slipped through the village silently, undetected by the inhabitants who went on with their daily routines. Though I perched myself upon a roof when I heard someone mention my name, well, my title.

I discovered two with names I could not recall talking with the fortune teller, Mable, and Honey, one of the village children. They were gathered around the well doing laundry, the typical Thursday chore.

"Have you ever seen him before up close?" The mayor's wife asked the other women. "I've only seen him from a distance when he's passing through the village and usually it's no more than a glimpse."

"I've seen Stranger before, isn't he something? So strong and mysterious it sends chills down my spine just thinking about him!" Honey blurted.

"I heard that no one has ever seen his face," the chief's wife pointed out.

"Fumu has!" Honey spat and my cheeks burned with fear and embarrassment. Had Fumu betrayed me?

"What did he look like?" The mayor's wife begged to know.

"Fumu won't say. She says she made a promise not to," Honey sighed.

"I wonder what color his eyes are," the chief's wife muttered absentmindedly.

"I predict that they are beautiful, deep, and insightful, full of wisdom and passion for this world and his friends," Mable sighed blissfully.

The other three looked at her in delighted shock. One of them then commented, "Sounds like someone's got a crush!"

Mable shrugged the assumption off, "Can't blame a girl for dreaming!"

They all laughed and Honey caught sight of me where I sat upon the roof of a building.

"Speaking of the Wanderer, look up there!" she laughed, pointing up to where I was balanced.

I bowed to them as they gathered in the shadow of the building I sat upon.

"How much of our conversation did you hear, Stranger?" Mable asked nervously of me.

I shrugged, "I'm afraid, my lady, that I wasn't really paying much attention to it, merely that you all were having a grand time in one another's company." It wasn't entirely false. I found no reason to further embarrass her.

"Oh well, what are you doing in the village today?" the mayor's wife asked.

With a brief lift of my shoulders I answered plainly, "Simply wandering through, my lady." I found no convincing reason as to why I should reveal my motive for my sudden appearance in the village.

They murmured in delight amongst themselves a moment before I decided it was time I left.

"Ladies," I said as I bowed graciously to them before disappearing from sight.

As I made my way over the roofs I found myself in the village square and looking at the great tree that stood in its center. It was then when I stood that I sensed someone was watching me.

The feeling grew with each passing step until I found myself running towards the setting sun in the distance which began to hide itself behind Dedede's castle.

Soon, the emerald that was my heart began to beat rapidly as it pumped my blood through the branches of veins in my body and my lungs heaved in ragged gasps of air as I desperately tried to escape whatever it was that was pursuing me.

Suddenly I stopped, I've no clue why, but something did. I pulled out my double bow and instinctively knocked an arrow into the bowstring. My eyes danced from beneath the hood I always wore as I searched the failing light for the one who was after me.

I waited, nothing came.

Then something tapped my shoulder briefly and I whirled around, pulling the string of my double bow to a full draw and let it fly to its target.

_THUNK!_

I could feel my face stretch with shock as I stood gawking at the emerald-tipped arrow as it quivered from the force of full draw after meeting the shingles of the roof instead of the unseen target. Had there been one, I'd no clue. I could only rely on the sensation of fear I had that someone, or some thing, was watching me like an all-seeing eye. As I pondered these things, I approached the arrow and worked it out of the roof. It had gone halfway down the shaft of the arrow.

Again I felt something tap my shoulder and without fail I released another arrow within seconds between knocking it and letting it fly.

_Th-THUNK!_

Once more it met the air and collided into the roof of the building. Now my fear of whatever this was escalated until every noise, every movement made my body quiver into action, readying to spring to life with an entire volley of arrows to take down whatever it was that was haunting my footsteps.

Then I recalled Kabuu's warning, which shattered what little peace I had and scattered it in salty water like broken glass.

"_Be wary of the shadows while you wander_."

My breath, I quieted, forcing my pulse to slow down. My emerald heart began to coincide with my lungs and retreated to a more regular rate, resulting in my mind's composure.

It all exploded into the erratic rate of fear as the distinct feeling of someone's finger tapping my shoulder repeated yet again. Strangely, it felt familiar, like a friend's. This time, however, I did not shoot my bow. I whirled around and took whoever it was by their clothing and held them up to meet my gaze. What I discovered was a very shocked and confused ninja. A ninja I knew well.

"R-Rioku?" I managed to stutter.

"Stranger, what in blazes are you doing?" He demanded heatedly.

I frowned and put the round figure down and winced as his left I glared at me. He was blind in his right, which he'd yet to tell me the reason why. His cloths were of a typical ninja, netting on his arms, armored feet, and of course, he wore dark cloths. Rioku's hair was shaggy, untidy, graying, and streaked with the streaked remnants of blonde and fading red. A treacherous kunai, or a thick, fat-bladed knife, sat were his hand once was, resting over a bowl-like structure made of the black iron of Ironcladd which could hold many other tools when Rioku needed something other than his kunai. Like know, I watched as he twisted out the knife from the bowl and replaced it with a pipe fashioned from a snail's shell. He puffed a few times and grinned ruefully at me, splitting the scars that slit across his mouth.

"Seems you're awful skittish today, Wanderer." He pointed out.

I shrugged, a motion I seemed to favor a lot today, and smiled briefly, "So I am. That doesn't seem to explain what you're reasons for being here are." I already knew he wasn't the one who'd been tapping my shoulder earlier. No, his reaction was not one of a prankster.

He frowned and rolled his eye briefly, since his other was immobile from being blind, "Drifter came to have a good chat with you and Sir Meta Knight. He certainly has an earful to say this time, Stranger."

In realization I smiled at the mention of that name. Drifter was the title name given to every chief of the Wanderers. They were always the greatest of Wanderers and were elected to such a superior rank by his fellow wanderers as much as experience and time. This Drifter was no exception. He was probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Wanderers alive and had been since I could remember.

There were twelve of us in all aside from Drifter himself and all of us were skilled in our chosen craft. There were others who adopted our Order's ways in the Galaxy Soldier Army as there were also several Wanderers who went rogue or simply retired. Though, we Wanderers of the Order were allies with the Galaxy Soldier Army, our true loyalty remained with the Twin Planets from which we hailed, Ivo and Elibis. My heart is bonded to Ivo selectively.

Twelve we had been and twelve we will reside as. Unlike many subgroups in the Galaxy Soldier Army, the Wanderers had survived the two great wars between Nightmare and all those who opposed him. Perhaps it was due to our cunning wit and stealth or maybe our lives were spared on my role in the Organization as Faceless, the assassin. Whether it was a great stroke of luck or the mercy of our enemies that allowed it, we Wanderers stood triumphant. Though there was yet one more enemy to face, the Organization.

A hand gripped my forearm firmly and pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked down to Rioku who was frowning up at me with concern.

"Your thoughts are many these days Wanderer," he said to me. "What they are about I'm sure I could guess, though I won't as there is no reason for my lips to pry. Come; let us take our time getting to that so called castle of the fat, lumbering fool-of-a-king Dedede. We'll make our way leisurely, as Drifter ordered of me. You know, as much as I enjoy taking orders from the big boss himself, I do dearly long for the days we worked as a team, my wandering friend."

I grinned in agreement as we continued onward and upon the remaining roofs of the village. Rioku had worked for Ivo's royal family since before the War of Lost Wishes and again during the Great Everlasting War, which had recently been ended after Kirby of the Stars defeated the ever present gloom of Nightmare himself. Several times Rioku and I had been assigned on missions together, usually to infiltrate, sabotage, or assassinate the enemy, and despite his age superiority, I outranked him.

We took a seat on the top of Kawasaki's restaurant and he continued blowing out rings of blue smoke. He was smoking his favorite, a plant known as Borthic, which was rumored to increase one's lifespan to double the average. Which for our species, meant could live around 200,000 years plus. Course, they also say the first puff could kill you, so I discarded the temptation almost as instantly as it had arrived.

For a great length of time we sat in a comfortable silence as we enjoyed the warm, summer breeze and watched the moonrise that elaborated the distant scenery with silky silver from the moon's illuminating light while Rioku blew miniature clouds of blue smoke into the stream of wind.

Finally, after we allowed time to pass a little while longer, we regained our feet and made our way swiftly like shadows towards Castle Dedede.

As we drew closer with our silent, running feet, the warning of Kabuu once again crept into my mind.

"_Be wary of the shadows while you wander._"

Be wary, but why? It confused me utterly. What was there to be wary of? Nothing but my imagination, I decided grimly. I still could not think of a proper answer by the time we arrived to Meta Knight's apartment.

"Hello Stranger," Drifter's swift, deep voice greeted me as the shinobi and I slipped through the doorway. A broad grin swept across the chief Wanderer's forest of a thick, peppered beard as we moved further into the pale light that escaped inside from the large window on the opposite wall of the entrance. Perhaps there was nothing to worry about.

Then I saw it, a shadow in the rectangular glow of moonlight that blanketed the wooden floors of the knights' apartment. When my eyes snapped up to the window itself I saw a brief glimmer of purple as the shadow of gray and silk vanished from my sight.

My hunter had arrived.

…..

_**Sweey:**__** Well, I really loved how this turned out….a cliffhanger, but yet still satisfying. I like it. Well, it's about time I got some decent reviews. SO PLEASE REVIEW! :D THANK YOU! **_


	2. The Reunion

**Sweey:**_** Alright, MUAHAHAHAHHAAHAHHAHAHA, I finally have the **__**inspiration I need to get this story going! HAHA! Alright, now, the plan is I'm gonna break this story into two parts of 10 chapters each. Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger (man... I need to change the title of that... maybe to JUST Eyes of a Stranger) was the first part. So this story consists of part 2 and part 3. Part two being: Bleeding Stones and Part three titled as: The Shadow Realm. So, you have a lot to look forward to from me. I've got like three other stories that I'm focusing on right now. I've got Hawkeyed and Crosseyed (featuring Crispy Pink's Meta Girl and my own Stranger), the Life of a Star Warrior (featuring ALL my characters and some characters allowed usage by their rightful owners), Forbidden Fantasy (If you want me to update it you'll have to tell me, I'm not entirely focused on it right now. Besides, it's basically the same as this story... only it's the story before Eyes of a Stranger), then I believe I have a few others of which I've kind of grown disinterested with... heh. So, if you want me to update that... you'll have to tell me. Anyways, back on topic. I've got some revising to do so enjoy this as I continue this story! Hopefully it will be worthy of being called the sequel to Eyes of a Stranger. (I like the sound of that title... I think I shall change it after all...)**_

_**Chapter 2: **_**A Reunion**

"What is it that troubles you, Stranger?" I heard Drifter ask me.

I shook my head to gather my thoughts, he took it as a point that nothing was wrong.

"You're acting oddly today Stranger..." he continued, "Tell me, what is wrong?"

"Kabuu told me to be wary when entering the castle today, so I have acted accordingly," I explained the situation in brief.

Drifter nodded, "So I see."

For a moment, I felt his gaze upon me. I could not meet his eyes, I do not know why, I just could not. Then he turned his attention to Rioku.

"Shinobi," he demanded Rioku's attention. The ninja lifted his gaze and waited for further orders.

Drifter smiled, "Good work. Take a seat and rest for a while as we inform Stranger of the situation."

Rioku nodded but I was not comforted at all with the words of my cheif.

"Situation? What situation?" I muttered.

Meta Knight, who had been observing silently behind his mask since our arrival, stepped forward to enlighten me.

"We sent a team to the location, Overkiye."

I met his glowing gaze, face stricken with shock. "You mean to tell me... Who did you send?"

Drifter motioned for me to calm down, so I did so,"We sent Emit of Ivo there and he did not return."

"Oh, so you sent a team of one," I replied sarcastically. "Well that's just great! Now what? Are you going to send another Wanderer in to infiltrate the place and rescue him?"

"We were hoping that you would go, seeing as you know the area like no other. Not to mention you were one of Emit's three mentors when he trained to be a Wanderer," Drifter replied. "You know, he wasn't alone. Lord Anduin and his shadow went with him."

At those words I straightened myself. "Our lord?"

Drifter nodded, "He said he'd meet you there. His pain is mutual with you. We understand how tender your feelings are when dealing with the Organization. We know of your relationship with Hena."

The spoken words triggered a deep twinge of pain that swept through my veins and I clenched my jaw in fear of what might become of me. I knew just as well as any that as a Wanderer I was forbidden to have any romantic relationship with anyone. Hena was Thorn's daughter, being Thorn's daughter, that made the act almost unspeakable.

I threw a glance over at Rioku but he shrugged. He was the only other who'd known about the relationship.

"How did you know?" I finally asked.

My cheif smiled, "I heard it from a little yellow bird."

"Fumu..." I muttered, grinding my teeth.

"Ah yes, that's her name. Don't be angry with her, she was just worried for you, that's all," Drifter said. Then his manner changed entirely and he frowned, "Though, this doesn't change the fact that you've betrayed the Order and have deliberately decieved us for years."

"It's not that bad Drifter! Give him a chance! He's served the Wanderers' Order longer than he had loved her," Rioku attempted to defend me.

Drifter's glaring eyes fixed themselves upon the shinobi, "And you knew about this too! I will not listen to you, shinobi. Now be quiet!" I met his gaze and flinched at the anger I found in them.

"You will go recue your former shadow and thwart the plans of the Organization. After that, you will no longer be a part of the Order as a Wanderer."

Though I was devestated, I did not move. I did not try to talk him out of this. I faced the consequenced that I had known would someday come and did so with humility and honor. "As you wish, Drifter."

I bowed and turned to leave, but Drifter stopped me.

"You will leave immediately," he said, "Rioku will be going with you."

At that Rioku perked up and rose to his feet. Already he was prepared to follow through with any order that I demanded of him.

"Very well Drifter, it is as you say it shall be." I managed to muster up the strength to say those last words. "Let us be on our way, Rioku."

The shinobi nodded and together, we left the castle.

...

Fumu smiled as she lifted up yet another shell to gaze at it.

"It's lovely. A perfect addition to my collection."

"Ah sis, can't we go home now. My favorite anime's coming on in less than thirty minutes!" Bun whined, crossing his arms behind his head.

Fumu glared at him, "You're the one who asked me if you could come with me to collect shells!"

"Well, I didn't know it was going to be this boring," Bun muttered. "Besides, you said Stranger comes here sometimes."

"He does," Fumu said defensively. "He's probably just busy with something right now."

"Whatever," Bun mummbled.

For a long while, he just listened to the sound of the waves beating up against the nearby cliffs. Then, another sound overlapped the ocean.

Tapping.

Both he and Fumu stood in delight as a familiar figure and his rice hat came into view.

"Jebediah!" they said as one voice. The lightning knight turned in surprise but he did not smile as their swift footsteps brought them together. Ever since the dealings with the Satisans here in Dreamland the blind warrior had often wandered to Pupu Village and it appeared that he had just come from there.

"Jebediah?" Fumu asked, "What are you doing here?"

"It's about time you came to visit us!" Bun laughed.

"I'm afraid I cannot stay long," Jebediah said sadly. It was obvious to the two of them that something was terribly wrong.

"What's the matter, Jebediah?" Fumu wondered, "Has something happened?"

"Yes, something terrible. Please, I must find Stranger!" Already Jebediah was walking urgently again in hasty search for the Wanderer.

They found Stranger on the beach with an unfamiliar face, a gruff fellow who appeared to be a ninja of some sort. Immediately Fumu recalled what Meta Knight had told her about the ninja betraying the Star Warriors.

"Who are you? What are you doing here ninja?" she demanded heatedly.

"Fiesty little gal, isn't she? You'd think she'd have kept her mouth shut. It would've saved us both a lot of trouble," the ninja muttered to Stranger.

Stranger did not reply, it was evident to Fumu that something had caused him to be like this. Then her gaze returned to the ninja.

"You haven't answered my questions yet!" Fumu said frowning.

"Rioku! Stranger! I've some news to bring you!" Jebediah hastily voiced.

Immediately Rioku and Stranger turned their attention on him and Fumu huffed, mumbling to herself about them ignoring her presence- which was exactly what they had done.

"There was an assassin, a shadow-shade. He attacked the store owner at his booth where he was selling "Wanderer" attire. I managed to save the fool but this anonymous assassin stole my shadow." Jebediah explained.

Something changed about Stranger's manner and he stepped forward, "His eyes, could you only see one and did it glow light purple?"

Jebediah cringed, "You're honestly asking me a question like that?"

Stranger cursed under his breath, "Forgive me. My mind is troubled. How is the cappy who was attacked? Can I speak with him?"

"Send me, Stranger. You go look for a way to the island." Rioku offered.

"Island? You mean the shifting island right?" Fumu asked. "You're not going back there again, are you?"

Stranger swallowed, "I am."

"What! That's suicide!" Fumu cried.

Thankfully for Stranger, Rioku butted in. "Look little lassy, you've caused enough trouble for us already!"

"What are you talking about?" Fumu asked frowning. "I don't have to listen to you, traitor!"

"Traitor? What the-" Rioku's eyes blazed but Stranger stopped him from further explanation, taking it upon himself.

"You are mistaking Rioku for a Famu ninja. He is a Kago. The Famu ninja betrayed the Star Warriors who had not enough money to pay them for their services."

"Famu? So, was Yamikage a Famu ninja?" Fumu asked.

"Yes, he was their leader. Rioku is the leader of the Kago ninja clan," Stranger explained further.

"Oh," Fumu mumbled. She turned to Rioku, who stood waiting expectantly for an appology. "I suppose it just goes to show I shouldn't be so quick to judge."

"Precisely what I thought," Rioku growled.

"Sorry," Fumu said.

Rioku's demeanor changed and he smiled, "I suppose you didn't know. I'm Rioku, you are?"

"Fumu."

"A lovely name, now, Stranger, while we wait for our blind friend to return, what say you and I figure out a way to get to that island?" Rioku looked up at Stranger who apparently wasn't listening.

"Stranger?" Rioku tried again and this time Stranger turned.

"Do you hear that rumbling sound?" he asked.

Rioku stopped and listened. It wasn't long that he heard the sound that Stranger had mentioned, "What is that?"

"It's... the Halberd." Fumu muttered in awe.

**Sweey:**_** Well, that's the end of this chapter. ;3 Hope you guys liked it! :D Please REVIEW! I'm changing the title of Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger to just Eyes of a Stranger. Kapeesh? Alright, later gators! Oh and hey! Go check out my DA account, I got A LOT of new pics there in my album Fantasy Photography! :3 ENJOY! :)**_


	3. Just a Feeling

**Sweey:**_** Well, here's the next chapter. I hope you guys are liking this! There will be a LOT to read as I continue. Three, maybe four parts. mmmm... anyways, let's continue, shall we? **_

_**Chapter 3**_** Just a Feeling**

The group stared in awe as the monstrous battleship lowered itself on the beach. Behind them they heard as sound and turned to find none other than Sir Meta Knight there.

"I thought you could use a lift," he said, probably grinning behind his mask.

Stranger smiled and he gestured for the others to follow Meta Knight on board the ship. It wasn't long that Jebediah joined them and Stranger looked to him for confirmation.

"It was as you said. The poor cappy said that he could only see a single, glowing, purple eye."

The others looked at Stranger as he took a pace back and nodded. It was obvious that something was bothering him.

"Stranger?" Meta Knight began.

"Just start the ship," he growled as he moved to exit through the elevator.

The others exchanged glances and Meta Knight set off to do as the Wanderer requested.

It had to be tough for Stranger, Meta Knight thought. To have always wandered but now to have lost that ability to a feeling that was human... it had to be an awful experience.

The Battleship Halberd lurched forward then took off, heading for the mysterious, shifting island on the horizon.

...

I was overwhelmed. My hunter was hungry and had take it out on an innocent civilian. And what's more, the anonymous hunter was a shadow shade. He had stolen Jebediah's shadow, that was the proof.

Sighing, I slipped into a bunkroom and slipped off my cloak, followed by the rest of my cothing. It'd take about an hour for us to reach the island, so I decided to make use of the time.

I held out my hand to feel the water poor through my fingers and into the tub. Gradually, it grew hot from cold. I adjusted the temperature and watched as the water slowly began to rise. First I put one foot in, then the other, before submitting myself to the clear waters and the heat and comfort that they brought me.

All I could do was think. I wanted to forget all that had happened and all that was to follow. Instinctively, I brought my hand upward to the scar over my heart and felt the cold of the Emerald of Enmity as it beat against my chest. Wearily, all I could think about was that day.

I saw her face, her cool, gray-blue eyes that contained a stormy sea. She was crying and I was holding her. It was the day her mother had died. I never learned the details of her mother's death, but rumors had it that Thorn himself had killed her. Whether by accident or by intent I'll never truly know. I do know that it was shortly after that Thorn gave up his throne to Nightmare and he became twisted but never did he become evil or cruel. He was different. He still had a heart, but he was submissive to the demon king, Nightmare. It made no sense, but I understood in the end.

I could almost feel her touch as she embraced me. Her lips fell gently upon mine own. It was as if none of the bad things had ever happened. I wanted to save myself only for her. She was, no is, precious to me. She is my heart. I only pray that she is alive.

My eyes opened and I shut the water off. I took to bathing myself and still my thoughts clung to memories. There was that night when I climbed the Mirror Castle of Ivo up to her balcony and slept the stars away with her at my side. That was the very night I lost everything. My soul, my heart, my life, and worst of all, my night in the forest they attacked me and ripped out my heart and replaced it with this wretched stone. After that I no longer was able to command my own life, no, the Organization set me to work as their assassin. I'd kill any man that opposed the Organization. Ironically, here I am, standing against them. For that reason I'm endangering all that I love. My dear friends, though most of them were unaware, were in terrible peril just knowing who I am. I hated myself for that.

I lifted my hands to my shoulders, rubbing them to push the pain out. I'd had so many sleepless nights because of all this. I wandered constantly, hoping to find some way out of this horrible nightmare. With a rag in hand I lathered it and washed off my body, running over the many scars where blades had claimed my flesh. I lifted it and wiped off my face, relaxing under the spell of the water's heat. Perhaps good would come out of this. Perhaps the anonymous hunter would catch me. With my death, peace would surely follow. But the Organization wants me dead, so that cannot be it. Should I die no one would know the truth about it all. The links that filled in the gaps of time, those were my memories. Whether wandering or battling I had been a presence in the shadow of all my friends. They know that and I know that, but the enemy is also aware.

Feeling it was time to conclude my bathing, I washed my hear, rinsed, and pulled the plug to drain the water. I lifted myself out of the emptying tub and dried myself off with a fresh towel then clothed myself once again. I looked in the mirror once before placing my hood back over my face. Was I coward? No, I knew the power that my cursed eyes held and I would not hurt my friends because of my self-concious thoughts. As I stared deeply into the emerald eyes that were mine own I began to question my own reason. Was it really the one who controlled me that killed Hena, or was it by my own unconcious hand? Am I truly just one a nightmarish creature created to destroy and kill all in my path? Without my heart, could I truly love again?

I hardened the stone that was my heart, ignoring my own doubts as I placed the hood over my face in its rightful place. I would not let this stop me.

Beneath my feet I felt the ship's movement as it landed on the shifting island. We had arrived.

Grabbing my double bow, I slung my quiver over my shoulder, placed my pair of knives in their sheathes, and slipped out of the bunkroom. Everyone stood when I entered the room. They had been waiting for me.

Embarrassed, I moved to open the door and led the way out of the battleship. I looked out on the island and stopped cold. All my memories flooded back into my mind, washing away all my security I had gathered before this. Angry that I let myself stand there for too long gawking, I took long strides down through the forest and led the way to the Location.

"'Ey! Stranger!" Rioku called to me as his little feet worked to keep up with me, "Do you need me to scout the way ahead?"

"No," I said flatly. "Don't let anyone out of your sight. We are not alone on this island. It is far to dangerous for any one of us to travel on our own."

Rioku nodded, "Very well."

I glanced up into the eastern horizon and caught a glimpse of the rising sun. Knowing that it'd not be safe to travel the roads I motioned for the others to enter the forest.

"Are you sure about this Stranger?" I heard Jebediah ask.

"Positive," I muttered. "Nevertheless, be on your guard. I sense that someone is watching us."

"You mean, Anonymous," Jebediah said, "Correct?"

"Yes, Anonymous," I agreed. Anonymous seemed the perfect name for my hunter.

I glanced over my shoulder, my gaze lifting up to the trees that stretched around me. That feeling was back.

"Come, we must hasten," I told them.

...

Craddled by the branches and rocked by the wind, Anonymous watched, his one eye glimmering as the Wanderer urged the party to move faster. It was only a matter of time. When one heads in the wrong direction, eventually one reaches a dead end or a cliff. Yes, it was time to push the Wanderer in another direction.

**Sweey:**_** Well, you finally got to meet him. Though, it was sort of brief. Anywho, I hope you're all enjoying this story. I'm certainly going to enjoy the look on your faces when you find out what happens in the end! :D MUAHAHHA alright... please R&R**_


	4. The Encounter

**Sweey:**_** Why hello everyone! I just had a nasty limeaid... but I usually like them. Don't you hate it when someone thinks that only good literature comes from being able to compose a sentence with big, complicated words? That's not the point! The point is to get the reader to understand - oh excuse me - comprehend what's going on with the characters. Who gives a damn how big a word ya use! DX Gosh, anybody care? Man, for all the compliments I've given the person... you'd think they might at least say, OH Stranger is an interesting character. But no, she tells me that my plot sucks and that I'm not professional at all... man... like... really? After I read her stuff... I understood completely. SO many errors... but the story had potential... All well... heh ^_^ haha well, hopefully I'll write this chapter nicly. Hopefully it will satisfy you all. I don't give a flip for the person, I mean, if all they can focus on is the errors they'll never be faced with satisfaction from a good story... I'm glad they didn't review! Pfft... alright, forgive my tantrum. I've been having a sucky summer and well, I'm pissed off for a lot of reasons... lol so, please enjoy this most recent chapter! :3**_

**Chapter 4:**_** The Encounter**_

We were running now. I knew that we were being chased, I just couldn't see him.

"Who's this Anonymous we're running from?" Meta Knight yelled from behind me.

"Someone we don't want to meet," I replied quickly. "Come on, we need to move faster!"

So we did. I knew I was pushing my friends to their near limit. My mind searched for some sort of plan I could hold on to. I watched as Rioku ran a little farther ahead of us to scout our path for us. He jumped through the tree branches. I saw a blur of gray and white followed by Rioku's cry of shock as he fell from the branches.

"What in blazes just happened?" Jebediah demanded to know. "Who's there?"

I heard the hiss of steel as Galaxia was drawn from Meta's grasp. I had already prepared my bow with an arrow readily knocked. Fumu and Bun stood behind the two of us, huddled close to each other.

Rioku regained his feet and rejoined with us. Already a strange white fog was clouding our view.

"Wonderful, so he's a ninja too," Rioku muttered, "Are there any more surprises this Anonymous fellow has in store for us?"

"Just keep your guard up," I growled, treading forward slowly through the thorn infested forest.

Then I felt a twist in my stomach as a blade slid between my ribs. I lurched forward, clinging to the spot, coughing up blood shimmering green. I turned and there he was. Anonymous, my hunter. He was a Cathican, round with small, dark gray feet wrapped in netting. His entire body was concealed with a tight, gray cloth that wrapped around him, revealing only his right eye. It glowed an icy purple with a slit carved as the pupil. The piece cut out for his eye followed its shape, trickling down his cheek like a black tear. His skin beneath it was a light gray and his hair tumbled over the cloth mask, appearing jagged and spiked, like the monstrous shuriken he held in his hand. It was nearly the same size as he was and he positioned himself, ready to let it go to cut me down.

I glanced down to where the sharp pain in my side was resonating. I felt for the blade. My fingers encountered only a small, narrow handle. I tugged at it, wincing at the suffering it brought me. I knew all too well that this could bear the poison that would send me into a frenzy as Faceless. Finally, I pulled it free. Lifting it to my gaze, I discovered a needle the length of my forearm.

He stepped forward a pace, we all stood strong, raising our weapons in preparation for whatever move he chose.

No emotion could be seen from his one glowing purple eye as he lowered the shuriken making it vanish from our sight in the blink of an eye as he took another step forward.

"Who are you?" I heard Meta Knight demand.

Anonymous merely stared.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself? You attacked us!" Fumu snapped.

His gaze fell upon her but still he uttered not a word.

"Is there something wrong with this guy?" Jebediah wondered alloud, "Is he a mute?"

At those words, Anonymous dashed forward, snatching the needle from my hand. He jumped upward and disappeared in the shadows of the trees.

My gaze scanned the forest and I sensed Rioku as he came to my side.

"Would it help if I go search those shadows. You know that only a shadow shade can see another when entering the Shadow Realm..." he muttered to me.

I knew that and I knew it well, "Very well, go do so."

**Sweey:**_** I'm cutting this chapter short. Please review. I really need it right now. I'm really questioning myself right now... :( *sigh***_


	5. Aygul and Anonymous

**Sweey:**_** Ah, well, after a day dedicated to research, reading, and relaxation, I think I'm finally ready to really get this story going. Forgive my ridiculously short chapters rescently. I haven't been feeling like myself lately. Anyways, I go on my first vacation in a long time on Wednesday. I'll be posting the details on my profile so you don't have to guess when I'll be getting back. That will be in a few days. I don't think it will be an ultimately break away from FF.N, but I'll be up to things, like Silver Dollar City. Though, I share Edge's fear of heights, so I usually pass on the roller coasters... of course, the shooting games and the booths... I LOVE THEM! I especially love watching the glass blowers. :) I think I'll make a character be a glass blower... though, I'll have to do a little research. I don't have a clue as to how it works, but I do know a few people who do it. So, I suppose I'll be asking the glass blower a LOT of questions. OH, and I'll probably buy some stuff... :3 lol anyways, I'll shut up about my plans and start working on this next chapter. haha Oh, because I'll probably be publishing this story and the one before it, I'll be writing the characters as humans. I hope that's alright with you. It won't be a huge change, but it will be there. **_

_**Chapter 5:**_** Aygul and Anonymous**

I pressed on, trying desperately to hide the anxiety that was overtaking me. The stars were shining above and a gentle breeze tickled the trees, who shook their leaves with laughter. I had no heart to join in their happiness. This was my last mission as a Wanderer. After this, I knew not where the road will take me. I never have.

I watched wearily as my feet progressed through the underbrush, pressing a hand still to the wound on my side. I felt I could not go on, but I knew I had to. I walked blindly, remembering only how to move forward.

"Stranger!" I heard Rioku call as he ran forward to meet me. He had been searching the shadows for Anonymous some hours ago just before evening had fallen.

I stopped, taking a moment to register that he had been talking to me.

I muttered to him, "Any luck?"

The shinobi shook his head, "'fraid not, sir. I searched the endless shadows of this forest, but found no sign of him." He paused, squinting his eyes and leaning forward to look at something on me.

"What?" I growled as I stepped back.

"Your brooch, it is missing." Rioku gestured to where it usually sat clasping together my cape.

"I was wondering why it felt so loose," I mummbled, fingering but failing to feel my symbol of recognition as a Wanderer, the Round Star, holding the knot together that held my cloak in position.

"I have no doubt that Anonymous took it," Rioku declared, scanning with his one good eye the trees and their long shadows that so contrasted the bright moonlight that outlined all that it touched in a silvery glow.

Sighing, I motioned for the party to move again, leading them ever onward through the dense forest.

"Stranger, don't you think we should stop and rest?" Meta Knight huffed as he walked beside me.

I continued walking, "No, we cannot take any chances. We must keep moving. You did not have to come with me."

Meta Knight stopped, his eyes burning red, "I came because you cannot do this alone. We need to stop and rest. We'll have no strength to defeat Shadox if we continue this!"

I stopped dead in my tracks, turning sharply on my heel to face the masked knight head on, "You're right, we'll stop for a while."

"We'll stop for the night," Meta Knight put in.

I narrowed my unseen eyes at him, speaking through cringed teeth, "Of course, for the night."

I watched as my friends settled to make camp. It wasn't late, only around eight, accourding the moon.

Jebediah and Meta Knight set off to collect firewood, never stepping out of my sight. Fumu was busy splitting rashions while her brother went to a nearby stream for water. Rioku had gone to search the shadows once more and I stood at watch, ever gazing into the thick woodland for glimpses of unnatural shadows or any other peculiar significance.

I pressed a hand against my side knowing I'd yet to clean the wound. It wasn't a terrible wound, though that didn't mean it was painless. Sighing, I turned again to gaze at the moon, hoping that it would cease its reflecting and turn into the dazzling rays of the sun.

Rioku appeared out of the shadows, seemingly rising from the ground, shaking his head, "No luck."

I nodded, taking a seat on a stone.

"If you like, I'll take watch for a while. Go walk a while to clear your mind a bit,' he told me.

"Thank you," I stood, gratefully accepting the shinobi's offer.

Knowing well that he was right, I walked over to the stream, contently watching Bun as he filled the water canteens and the cooking pots for the later meal. I would rather not have a fire here but I was ruled out as soon as Meta Knight joined the party. I no longer was in charge, I was just a mere scout to him. It had always been that way. I slowly found myself lost in my thoughts again.

Who was that Anonymous and why did he not speak? I felt for the Round Star, recalling that it was no longer there, when its comforting, cool metal surface did not meet my fingertips. Why had he taken my brooch? What significance did it hold? It was nothing but my identity as a Wanderer. My identity...

I looked up at the trees that surrounded Bun as he set to work filling the pots, having just finished with the canteens, using one of the smaller pots to fill the largest.

I saw a glimpse of something, a mysterious, shifting shadow.

Standing and holding my bow, I knocked an arrow readily as I took a silent step toward Bun, my gaze ever fixed on that odd shadow. Then the shadow took color, revealing the single, purple eye of Anonymous. Immediately I took aim and released the arrow, but Anonymous was already gone again, using the shadows to dodge my arrows. He progressed to get closer to where Bun sat, now shaking in fear.

"Get into the water!" I screamed at him.

But he did not listen to me. Anonymous appeared before him and took a hold of Bun's shadow, ripping it away, placing it in a black sack.

I shot another arrow just as Anonymous lifted a kunai and a lock of Bun's shaggy hair. Not a sound passed from his lips as my arrow sunk deep into his side. He looked at me with an unreadilbe expression, then cut the lock of Bun's hair he still gripped before he vanished, taking Bun's shadow along with him.

Bun stood gawking, shocked that he was still alive. He startled when he discovered I was right next to him.

I thrust out my hand, pulling him to meet my hidden gaze beneath the hood that veiled my face.

"Why did you ignore me?" I asked him, my voice revealing just how angry I truly was.

"I-I... I was too scared to move," Bun stuttered in reply.

"Stranger! What are you doing?" Fumu demanded as she ran up to us. She gasped at the sight the blood on the bank of the stream, assuming it belonged to Bun. "Stranger, what did you do?"

At the sound of Fumu's frightened voice, Meta Knight rushed in.

"Stranger?" he began, uncertain of how I might react. He probably surmised that I had been poisoned.

I released Bun from my iron grip and turned to hold Meta's gaze. "What?" I snapped.

"What did you do?" he commanded to know.

I glared furiously at him, then at Fumu. Why did everyone believe I had done all this? Enraged, I slipped away, moving with the shadows of the trees.

...

Meta Knight watched as Stranger vanished into the shadows. There was no telling when that Wanderer was your alley or your enemy. Shaking his head he turned and looked at Bun, "Are you alright?"

Bun stood shaking a moment, then exploded in their faces, "Look, Stranger didn't touch me! Anonymous attacked me and stole my shadow! The two of us fought for some time when the jerk pinned me down. He was about to cut out my heart when Stranger shot him with an arrow! That blood on the ground isn't mine, it's Anonymous's! Stranger saved my life!"

"Then why was he holding you by your shirt?" Fumu asked heatidly, tapping her foot impatiently.

"He was scolding me," Bun admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I sorta disobeyed him..."

"Well, this won't do," Meta Knight sighed, already feeling guilty even if Bun had stretched the truth by a little. "I was wrong."

"Yeah, you certainly screwed up this time Meta," Rioku muttered as he rose from the ground, surrounded by shadows he'd gathered. They returned to the ground, snaking back to wherever he'd thieved them from, be it tree, rock, or cloud. Fumu even saw glimpse of a deer's shadow leaping away back through the trees to its former host.

Meta Knight sighed behind his mask, "I suppose I owe him an apology."

Rioku nodded, arms crossed as he smoked the pipe that currently replaced his missing hand, "Look, I'll go try and talk him out of all this. He's pretty mad, know that alright? Well, he was already mad, you just threw him into blind fury, though. Congratulations! Anyway, get some food ready, I'll go fetch him." He then amassed some shadows around him. They watched as a nearby tree's shadow swirled around the shinobi, leaving only moonlight where it had been, allowing the ninja to sink into the ground once again, moving as a colorless silhoutte of his former self.

"Oh, and Meta Knight," he said as he rose halfway from the ground behind Meta. "You might consider writing an apology note for me to give Stranger as proof of your atonement."

Meta Knight sighed, "Of course." He was greatly embarrassed with how quickly he'd been to judge Stranger.

Rioku handed him a slip of paper and Meta scratched out a note then handed it back to the shinobi where he sat halfway in the earth.

Rioku's one good eye slid over the words, mumbling them alloud, and then he grunted, "...my sincerest apologies, Meta Knight." He met Meta's gaze, "Nice job, Meta. I'll see to it that our wandering friend receives it."

With that said, Rioku disappeared into the shadows.

...

Walking I had been, now I was running. I was furious. Running was all I could do not to shred the trees apart that stood around me. I hated my life. I wished I was dead, gone so no one ever had to doubt my motives again. I came to a cliff's edge and stopped.

Perhaps that's exactly what needed to happen...? Would my death solve the world's problems? Fear would no longer be an issue. But who would lead the GSA into the Organization? Who knew every route of the Sunken Footpaths? I knew that I was the only one who could do this. I was needed, but did they see that?

I stole a seat on a large boulder, now pondering over other things that had occurred.

Why had Anonymous cut a lock of Bun's hair and taken it? Where was his voice when my arrow hit him? Who was he behind that gray cloth? Was his soul as tattered as mine? What was his purpose? Was he trying to help us or lead us astray?

Frustrated with all these unanswered questions I shook my head in attempt to be free of them. Perhaps I was over thinking all of this? I was depressed, stressed, and angry. Not a good combination for a soul such as myself. So I sat still and closed my eyes, taking in deep breaths in order to calm down my erratic nerves.

"Stranger?"

I jumped, unsheathing my two knives, prepared to slice whoever approached me to pieces. Fortunately, it was only Rioku.

"Relax," he said to me motioning for me to lower the knives.

"I was trying to, then you had to come sneak up on me," I muttered my frustrations as I reclaimed my seat back on the rock and sheathed my knives.

"Listen, Meta Knight and Fumu are sorry for postulating the worst of you," Rioku began to explain, but I didn't want to hear it.

"I do not give a damn as to what they think," I growled, waving the matter away with a frustrated gesture of my hand. "They're probably both more concerned with their pride being hurt than they are for showing such distrust of me."

Rioku rolled his good eye and took a seat on a rock beside me. "Take a good, long look at this before you hurt yourself with that sharp tongue of yours," he said as he handed me a paper.

My hidden gaze danced over the words, "So, Meta Knight is sorry." I sighed crossly as I rose from my perch on the boulder, "Fine, I suppose they will all die at some point or another if I refuse to help them..."

"That's the spirit!" Rioku said, slapping my back encouragingly.

I glared at him and then found myself joining in his laughter as we waltzed back to our temporary camp where the others waited for our return.

...

Shadox Veroxin stood gazing out the open window with hands held behind his back. So many things had gone according to plan. It would only be a matter of time before he'd be able to awaken the moon of the Shadow Realm. Yes, only a matter of time.

It was almost adorable, that petty Wanderer and his friends trying to oppose the mighty Organization. It was quite ammusing, yes quite. The pitiful, tortured soul of Faceless would soon be put to work yet again. It was nearly time for his work to be done. Then he would be disposed of.

Shadox turned to Aygul, who led the group of hired mercenaries, the Yildirici Gönüllü, or the daunting volunteers. An appropriate title for their services.

She stood ready, her blue hood draped over her head, hiding her gray-blue eyes from his sight. She was a tall, young woman. Her shirt was green and sewn to her cloak by a crosspiece of white cloth adorned with a mirrored design of two red stripes and a navy dot between them. The red netting on her arms bled through the sleeves of the transparent cloak, which appeared to have been dragged in blood as bottom seam was splattered with crimson. Strips of blue cloth, neatly cut, hung from a black leather strap that clung to the side of one hip and sagged on the otherside, layering over her tanhide pants that wrinkled near her red-brown boots. Over it rested a red belt, thinner than the other, with irregular black stripes. The gray gauntlets that wrapped around her forearms slept over a dark red cloth that wound around beneath it and over the her hands leaving her fingers untouched. Her right gauntlet was elaborated with two blades that sat in a line down her arm, fashioned to appear like two thorns.

As she lifted the blue hood veiling her face, her rich, brown hair came to view. It was pulled back into a spiked bun, held there with two pairs of red needles for throwing. Several locks of her glossy hair had escaped the bun and dangled freely, framing her narrow face. The tips of her hair appeared almost black, fading into a lighter, rich brown the closer it was to the roots. Her bangs hung low over her right eye, dyed a faint red as a symbol of leadership, but she didn't seem to notice.

As Shadox joined her, she revealled a slight side smile that spread her rose red lips menacingly. She was no less frightening than any other assassin Shadox had recruted, perhaps she was more so.

"Aygul, I assume you have sent some of your people on the field," Shadox began.

"Of course I did. I already told you that that was my plan," she replied easily.

Shadox raised a brow, "When exactly did you send them?"

"I sent Anonymous to fetch a few samples for me," Aygul explained simply. "He'll be back each time he collects one. He's already captured the Lightning Knight's shadow. Eventually, he'll take a little bit of everything from them."

"And why do you need to go through such executions? I hired you to make them suffer, to slow Faceless and his friends down, not to do a sience experiment!" Shadox snarled, pacing back to glare out the window.

"Let me remind you of a vital detail," Aygul said as she crossed her arms irritably, "You hired us to do a job that only our group, the Yildirici Gönüllü, can accomplish. That job requires having full knowledge of the weaknesses of each of in his company. You can't simply waltz in and make them suffer, hoping you won't get hurt in the process. No, we must act with caution. Anonymous has been working double time to steer your target off course. If you ask more of us, you'll be handing over more gold. Got it?"

"Well, where are the rest of your people?" Shadox asked.

Aygul threw a fierce glare at him and there were no further questions from the lord.

Shadox stood quietly, hands clasped together behind his back. He then pivoted and faced the female mercenary. "As long as it gets done in time then I care not what you do. Just make sure it gets done correctly. I don't want Doruk Hakan and the other three being angry with me, alright? I've most recently gotten on their good side. I'd like it to stay that way."

"Who wouldn't? Doruk Hakan and the others tend to be a little stiff and shortsighted. Of course, Kadir Kadri will always like you. He is quite a respectable man, like yourself. While the other two tend to be a little less so." Aygul said as she took a seat on an available pillow.

Shadox Veroxin nodded, "I have to agree with you. Hayri Hayati and Ilkin Yilmaz are fixed on being the best under Doruk Hakan. Both want to be his chancellor, for reasons both the same and those that are unique only to one or the other."

"Whatever, like I honestly care what you lords do with your useless lives! As long as one of you is filling my pocket with gold, I'll do whatever is asked of me," Aygul declared as she popped a grape in her mouth.

Shadox rolled his eyes, "You know for a woman of your beauty you're not very-"

"-ladylike? Why should I care? It's not like I'm planning on courting anyone in particular. Besides, what's ladylike about murdering people for money?" Aygul cut off Shadox's words, "Well it's a lot more ladylike than being a prostitute."

"Well, if that's the way you see life, then so be it," Shadox muttered. He took to looking out the window again while he listened to Aygul plop yet another handful of grapes into her mouth. The sound of slurping reached his ears and he glanced over his shoulder at her where she sat drinking from his wineglass. He looked to the heavens again and wondered why he'd ever agreed to paying these mercenaries. He then recalled the fact that they were the best of the best. He had found them at a local bar when they were drifting for work. He hired them and so far, they'd proven to be both useful and a bit of a nuisance.

The doors creaked as two guards pushed the heavy, thick iron sheets open as four others carried in a prisoner. Their captain, Tuncay, entered before them and announced, "Mercenary and Wanderer Emit now present as you requested, my lord."

Shadox Veroxin allowed a smile. Lately, he'd been having his prison guards bring Emit to him at exactly the ninth hour of the early night for a conversation over tea. Already Emit was seated on an elaborate pillow at the low-standing, square table that awaited him as well. Joining the man in shackles, he sat down, tucking his feet beneath him.

"Your friends are comming to rescue you, Emit. You know that, do you not?" Shadox pressed to know.

Emit did not answer. He was too angry with the man across from him to speak. This was the man who had destroyed Stranger's life but there was no way Emit could gain revenge for his friend and former mentor.

"Well, nevermind that," Shadox said, waving the matter away. The wave flowed into a finger pointing at Aygul, who sat beside the both of them, across from the empty seat that was now taken by Tuncay. "You've already met Tuncay, but I believe this is your first time in Aygul's presence."

Aygul sat quietly, neatly sipping her tea. Emit raised a brow at her then took to making his own tea. He was starving, but he refrained from showing any signs of his desperate hunger. With shaking, yet controlled hands, he reached for the tea leaves, finding it difficult to perform the difficult task. His feet and hands were chained to two rings on either side of him, only giving him enough slack to reach about eight inches in front of him with his hands. This required him to rely on the others' presence and cooperation to get what he needed. Of course, he had to do it politely.

"Aygul," Emit began, "Pardon me, but would you mind handing me one of those rice cakes, please my lady?"

She nodded and placed the plate of rice cakes closer to him and put three on his own plate.

"Thank you, my lady," Emit said quaintly before he took his first bite in a number of days. He ate the rice cake slowly, to savor the taste and to bring himself more satisfaction from it. He also did so to appear unfatigued by the lack of food he'd been given.

"For the enemy he sure has better manners than you do, Shadox," Aygul said to the lord in a forcefully polite voice.

"By the stars of this vast galaxy, do you have to side with him?" Shadox grumbled. In their first encounter, he had mistaken Aygul for a man. That was a mistake he'd regretted since that moment. It was often that people mistook Aygul for a man. For starters, she led a group of mercenaries, theYildirici Gönüllü, that had come to be known as the Death Eaters and the Black Roses. They were feared throughout the galaxies. Her clothing was loose fitting on her chest and she almost always wore that blue hood when she went in public places like inns, pubs, bars, or any other place she might have to go.

"For one thing, he's a mercenary and he's a polite one at that! I'll take my chances with the Westerner he is, whatever that is!" Aygul decided, handing Emit another cake or two, which he took gratefully.

"Thank you, my lady," Emit reacted sweetly.

"It's Wanderer, not Westerner," Tuncay corrected her. "He's an expert in virtually everything."

Emit choked on his tea, spraying it at Shadox, at Tuncay's terrible description of a Wanderer.

"I know what a Wanderer is, boob. I just don't care enough to remember what they're called," Aygul retorted, surpressing her laughter at Shadox's still stricken face after being soaked with Emit's tea.

"Start caring, Aygul," Shadox began as he wiped the tea off of his face with a clean, cloth napkin. "Your main target is a Wanderer."

"Oh really?" Aygul said. She then turned to Emit, "Well, I guess you and I will be spending more time together!"

"I believe that wonderful news, my lady," Emit replied carefully.

"See that?" Aygul asked Shadox, "Even after that he still treats me with respect!"

Shadox rolled his eyes, "Tuncay, take him back to his cell."

Tuncay nodded and motioned the other guards to help him gather Emit's shackles.

"Hold on Tuncay, I need to tell him something," Aygul said and the guard stopped, turning Emit to face her.

Emit wasn't sure what she was going to say as she leaned up to his ear. He did, however, feel her hands moving to his sides, fingering at his pockets.

"Look stricken," she whispered, "I'll be at your cell in two hours with more."

She didn't have to ask him to look shocked. He stood there gawking even after she left to sit down.

"Move along," Tuncay ordered and the party did just that.

"What did you tell him?" Shadox asked Aygul as she reclaimed her seat beside him.

"You'd be dead if I told you," she replied, thrusting the hood over her head again.

Shadox narrowed his eyes and smiled, "As long as you can get information out of him, do whatever you like with him."

Aygul cocked her head at him, "You don't think I'd-"

"My dear lady, he's a strong man, your a woman, love happens," Shadox said.

"I would never!" Aygul said angrily, raising from her seat. "If you think I'd do such a dishonorable act then you are dead wrong!"

Shadox held his hands up in defense, "I'm sorry! It was just an observational guess!"

Aygul relaxed, "Whatever."

At that moment, Anonymous appeared beside them where Emit had sat just moments ago, sipping from a spare cup through his cloth mask.

"Ah, Anonymous, what present have you brought me this time?" Aygul asked pleasantly to her fellow mercenary.

The shadow-shade lifted up a black sack to her. Aygul took it from him gently and read the tag attatched to the sack's drawstring.

_Bun- younger brother to Fumu. _

_Weakness- Fear of the Unknown_

_Childish in both appearance and action, no special abilities known._

_Obtained- Lock of hair and his shadow._

Aygul did not go to peek inside the bag, knowing well that the shadow would escape and return to its rightful owner. She turned to Anonymous, "Excellent work." She then saw the arrow protruding from his right side. "Who in the Universe did _that_ to you?"

"My guess, that was the work of a Wanderer," Shadox replied smartly. "Faceless, to be exact," he added with a look to Anonymous who shook his head ever so slightly in objection.

"Well, I don't care who it was if it doesn't matter to you Anonymous," Aygul decided. "Now go clean yourself up and rest for a while before you continue your mission."

Anonymous nodded slightly before he sunk through the pillow and the floor beneath, disappearing like a shadow.

"He's weird," Shadox Veroxin stated.

"You're weirder," Aygul retorted in defense for her friend, "And insensitive!"

...

"So he cut only one lock of your hair?" Jebediah asked. The group was gathered around the fire, enjoying a the meat of a deer that Stranger had hunted and cooked for their pleasure. It was the Wanderer's way of accepting their appology.

"Yeah, just one lock," Bun replied.

Fumu smothered a giggle, "It's too bad he didn't just give you a free haircut!"

The others burst into chuckles at that and Bun couldn't help but join in. His hair had gotten more than just a little out of control.

"Of course, Stranger had to have said something along the lines of, "I'm gonna shoot you with an arrow should you harm even a hair on his head!" Jebediah added and again laughter followed. Even Stranger allowed a soft chuckle to escape his standoff manner.

"Anyways, what's our day look like tomorrow Stranger?" Meta Knight said after the deep chuckles echoing from beneath his mask ceased.

"We'll be entering the vacinaty of the Location, the Organization's Third Fortress," Stranger replied. At his words, the merrymaking ended and silence befell them all.

"The Organization's... Third... Fortress?" Fumu echoed.

"How many do they have?" Bun blurted.

"Four," Stranger answered.

The tenseness of the situation relaxed a little. They had imagined the worst, assuming the Organization had fifty or so more fortresses scattered across the Universe.

"Main Fortresses, that is," Stranger added.

"So, in reality they have how many?" Meta Knight asked, the Star Warrior within him returning once again.

This time Rioku enlightened them, "As Stranger told you, the Organization has Four Fortresses. There are several others beneath each of them, though they come in many different forms such as inns, pubs, bars, and stores. Sometimes even a house can be considered a fortress. All the minor fortresses are connected to the main Fortress by a series of underground tunnels known as Sunken Footpaths. Each of the Four Fortresses have their own lord. The lord of Third Fortress is none other than Shadox Veroxin."

"What about the First, Second, and Fourth Fortresses?" Bun asked.

Stranger took over again, "The First Fortress's lord is an egocentric genius who goes by the name Ilkin Yilmaz. He treats everyone like their lives are disposable. The lord of the Second Fortress is an honorable man known as Kadir Kadri who treats everyone equally and generously. The Fourth is under the control of Hayri Hayati, who's an incredible tactitian but has a terrible time socializing with others. The four of them work under Doruk Hakan. I don't know where he is but he's our target. If we want to find Doruk, we have to get to one of the four lords, Shadox Veroxin being the closest and conveinetly he's the one I'm most familiar with."

"So, the plan's to take out Veroxin to get to Doruk Hakan?" Jebediah asked. "Doesn't seem to hard."

The others murmured in agreement.

"Maybe Shadox will have Anonymous give Bun a free haircut!" Fumu laughed and everyone joined in.

"No, it doesn't sound to hard, does it?" Stranger repeated to himself quietly. He looked off into the trees, meeting the glowing, purple eye of Anonymous, just before the shadow-shade vanished into the night.

"What's wrong, my wandering friend?" Rioku asked.

"I don't suppose," Stranger began thoughtfully, "that anything is the matter..."

...

Emit grunted contently after Tuncay unlocked his shackles after placing him back in his cell. He rubbed his wrists and feet where the rings had secured him for the past two hours in the same position.

He waited patiently for the guards to leave before he placed his hand in his pocket. There he discovered something very familiar. Pulling it into view, he smiled gratefully and set to devouring the rice cake that had been placed in his pocket by the mercenary, Aygul. After that, he began to do the only activity that seemed reasonable in the cage he was in and that was excersize. He'd sleep later.

**Sweey:**_** That chapter took a LONG time! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! ^_^ Here's a sweet little bonus! If you go look up the names of all the new characters, you might get a little sneak peak as to where Doruk Hakan is. :) Because I'm that awesome that I searched for names that would be clues to what's going to happen in the future of the story! :D So, there are Four Fortresses. How long is this story gonna be? :3 Who knows! Please, check out the meanings of those names. They're all Turkish (because I love Turkey *gobble* lol) Anyways, go to . :) Please review! ^_^**_


	6. Shadows in the Snow

**Sweey:**_** Well, I'm tired. lol I got a load of reviews on Eyes of a Stranger! WOO! Thank you! ^_^ Of course... one of them came to be a little too... well... raunchy about how much they... loved Stranger. mmm please don't... do that anymore. Anywho, as we continue this epic journey with our dear and wonderful Wanderer... Stranger, we shall also be meeting plenty of new faces... heh. **_

_"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." ~ Bill Cosby_

_**Alright, well, with that said let's continue on with our next chapter! ;D Oh, there's a pic of both Anonymous and Aygul on my DA account! :) This chap isn't nearly as long as the last... so... forgive me. **_

_**Chapter 6:**_** Shadows in the Snow**

We arrived at the Forth Fortress some time in the late night. I had situated our schedule so that we would get plenty of sleep and be able to infilitrate the Fortress that very night. That way we would not risk being discovered should we have had to camp through the next day in patience for nightfall. Already, the others had composed a temporary, yet comfortable camp in a dense thicket to sheild them from both enemy patrols and the icy wind that was blowing from the fortress.

"It's b-bitterly cold!" Fumu grumbled, rubbing her arms in hopes the friction would bring her warmth. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She was right, after all. The temperature had dropped to near freezing since they had came within the borders of the Forth Fortress.

Jebediah slipped off his cape and handed it to her, "Here, you and your brother wrap yourselves snug, ya hear? I'm gonna take first watch."

"Are you sure?" she questioned the blind Cathican.

Jebediah smiled, thrusting his cape into her arms, "Of course I am!"

"Perhaps I should take first watch," Meta Knight said to Jebediah, "Since of course you can't _actually_ watch."

Confident that Jebediah was decided, Fumu grabbed her shivering brother with a shaky hand and wound the both of them in the cotton cape, grateful for the warmth it provided. She caught my eyes staring, though she could not see them, and motioned for my attention. I nodded to inform her I was listening to her and waited to hear what she had to say.

"C-can't we have a fire at least?" she asked me.

"Absolutely not," I replied bluntly. "A fire would be too dangerous should the enemy spot it."

Fumu frowned, "Not even a little one? We'll freeze to death if we don't get some kind of warmth!"

"NO!" I snapped and Fumu jumped at my harshness. I sighed irritably, "The only way I'd allow a fire is if it started snowing." Just as I said the words tiny white crystals started to float to the frozen grass. I looked up at the mourning clouds as their frozen tears grew more abundant and fell faster. I bared my teeth and met the challenging gazes of my friends. "Fine, light a fire for all I care, but only a small one. Don't keep it burning the entire time either."

Cheerfully, the others set about to gathering firewood with my reluctant permission.

I turned and stared out into the falling snow, so pure in contrast to the Fortress that stood like a looming, great shadow in the valley below. I turned to the others, "Perhaps you might go back down and make camp half way up the following hill. It will conceal the fire as well as give you a better vantage point."

"I was thinking the same thing," Meta Knight told me as he began breaking down the camp. He turned to Fumu and Bun, "The faster we break down camp and get moving, the faster we can enjoy a hot meal. Come on!"

Upon demand, the two siblings stood and began doing as the old knight had demanded of them. I turned, my lip curled in frustration. They certainly were quick to obey Meta Knight, or maybe it was just the promise of a hot meal that motivated them.

"Are you ready, my wandering friend?"

I turned, finding Rioku there at my side,"I suppose now is good a time as ever."

"But aren't you going to eat first?" Bun asked me as he picked up the canvas of a tent.

I shrugged, "I've already eaten."

"When? I never saw you," Fumu said worriedly, "You have to eat. You barely touched your food last night!"

"I ate some jerky made from the deer last night," I mummbled. "Please, do not worry for me."

"Take some with you," Jebediah said, handing up a small pouch. "You never know when your empty stomach betray you and give away your location to the enemy!"

"Of course, thank you Jeb," I said to my old friend, hitching the pouch to my belt. Jebediah handed another to Rioku and the shinobi took it gratefully.

"Now, let us be off," Rioku declared as he began weaving the shadows around him.

Fumu frowned, "Wait, you're leaving? But it's so dark outside!"

Rioku grinned, "Perfect, it's the best time to infiltrate a filthy castle!"

"And it's snowing," Bun added.

"All the better to conceal our footsteps," I said. It was no lie. This was the perfect time to infiltrate for as the snow fell, it would fill in our footsteps. Despite of course, we being a dark object upon a light surface, but Rioku would fix that minor detail.

"But," Fumu began, searching for some reason to keep us there.

I held up a hand to stop her, "It's now time for us to leave. I know not what your problem is so keep it to yourself."

Fumu nodded, sighing somewhat sadly as she set back to work breaking down the camp.

Rioku and I waited until the figures of our friends disappeared as they trekked down the hill. Already the snow blanketed the area. It was quite a mysterious occurance. Just a few nights before it had been of comfortable temperature, but now it was freezing.

"Are you ready?" I heard Rioku ask from where he stood beside me.

I nodded, "As I'll ever be."

Standing to his feet Rioku began to shift the shadows around us, wrapping them closely until we became one with them. This was not the first time I had done this, but the feeling of the shadows was almost sticky, like ink on the skin and heavy. As a Wanderer, I was an expert in infiltration, but not exactly to the point that Rioku was. He was a shinobi as well as a Shadow-shade. He had the skill and the silence of a shadow, I longed to be like that.

The two of us were nothing but colorless, featureless silhouettes on the surface of the glistening snow. We slipped from one host to the next, a tree there, or a passing wolf, until we made it to the great shadow that was the Forth Fortress itself. We raced up the walls then down the otherside. As we entered the interior we found that no one was around. Taking cover in the darkness of a desk, we took the oppertunity to catch our breaths.

"We wait for the first round of guards," I muttered to Rioku and I saw his outline nod.

So we waited and it seemed hours had passed before we heard the unmistakable clanking of armor. It had to be around nine when we heard it. As they came into view I watched, anger rising, as the guards came by with Emit in chains, heading up the stairs.

"This is our chance!" Rioku motioned me forth as he sprung into one of the guards' shadow. I followed his lead.

The guards walked for sometime before they reached their destination. I recognized the chamber as Shadox Veroxin's. For every step the guards took toward the interior of the chamber, my rage grew. How I hated that man.

He was just sitting there, sipping tea in all his putrid filth. Someone sat next to him, a young man by judge of glance. I didn't care who they were, all I could focus on was Shadox Veroxin.

There was a sudden jolt as the guards stopped, then slid over to chain Emit down to sit at the table. I could recall doing a similar task myself in my past, when Shadox was trying to "bond" with me. Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean...

"So Emit, you've come to join us yet again! You're quite punctual!" Shadox mused to my friend.

I heard no reply from Emit.

"Look, you've already scared him!" the person beside Shadox joked, not cruelly toward Emit. The voice was distinctly female and almost... familiar.

"My lady Aygul, would you be so kind as to hand me the rice cakes?" Emit asked politely. She complied, plopping a few of the cakes on the plate that sat within his reach. I heard him devouring them and it sickened me. He must be starving.

There was a nearly inaudible _huff_ as another entered the room.

"Anonymous, good of you to join us! You're early this night, what have you got for me?" Aygul asked pleasantly.

The enemy shinobi glided over to her side and handed her an artifact that I knew would be missed dearly by one of my oldest friends.

Meta Knight's mask.

For all the trouble he'd caused me lately I decided he deserved it. Even so, it was a terrible loss for us all. Meta Knight would be less...say... confident.

"So, the masked knight no longer has his mask," Shadox said grinning slyly.

"That makes him just a knight right?" Aygul muttered. "Well whatever, Anonymous, take a break. You can do more work tomorrow."

The shinobi nodded and took the spare seat, just inches from us where we now used Emit and Aygul as our hosts, Rioku in our friend's and I with the enemy. The three of them conversated for some time and Rioku and I found ourselves lost in their conversation.

Suddenly I felt that strange twinge that came when someone was shifting a shadow. Aygul felt it too and she stood to her feet, "Anonymous what are you doing?"

He didn't stop, he continued shifting me out of her shadow and I watched as the shadows that Rioku had wrapped around me, scattered away back to their original hosts. Slowly, I felt myself come in to view, being knocked back by his power.

Rioku burst out, taking Anonymous by surprise and knocked him down. By now I was already human again, out of the shadows. Aygul stood, having already unsheathed a knife from God knows where, and she approached me. Before I could defend myself, she had the knife at my throat and another to my heart. I could not stop her with my eyes, hers were hidden beneath a blue hood.

"Rioku! Get Emit out of here! I'll take my chances!" I told my friend.

The ninja, who had been busy dueling Anonymous with a blade made of shadow, nodded, and formed a key out of the shadows, unlocking the shadow of Emit's chains. In turn, the shadow-key unlocked the real chains. The two of them were enveloped in shadows and they disappeared with Anonymous after them.

"I told you I'd get him here," Aygul said to Shadox. "Come with me Wanderer, we've got a few things to talk about."

I bared my teeth and complied. Perhaps my escape would come soon.

She took me down deep into the cell of which I assumed had been Emit's. There, she chained me to the wall with the help of a few guards.

"You can leave now," she said, motioning them away. She then turned to me, with a hand placed on her hip, as she strode casually toward me.

"So, you're the one Shadox wanted all this time? You know I should thank you, coming in freely and all. I mean, you are paying my bills, buying my meals, and such." She took the oppertunity to lean on me. I couldn't resist because of the chains so I was forced to allow her to.

Her hands brushed my cheek and her face moved closer to mine, "What do your eyes look like, Stranger? Hmmm? I've heard you have dangerous eyes, is that so? I have dangerous eyes too."

I did not reply to her. I could not find words to muster.

My eyes widened beneath my hood as her face inched nearer, until her lips brushed against my cheek when she spoke.

"I hear you lost love a long time ago," she muttered, "I did too. It's hard, it really is." Her lips met mine and for a moment I was lost in her but then the memories of Hena flooded back and I jerked away from her as best I could.

"Please, do not do this to me. If I cannot have her, I will not have anything less," I whispered. "Leave me here to die. Just go."

She straightened herself and laughed, "A pitiful sight you are, Wanderer. To love and not love again, you're right, that is to die!" WIth those words she left me their, hanging against the wall with hands chained.

I was bitterly cold but I did not care. I had no reason to live, I was lost.

**Sweey:**_** Alright, I'm wrapping it up here. I feel like... weird. lol anyways, hoped you all enjoyed it. I'm sleepy so... REVIEW! X3 Later gators! **_


	7. Liquid Tears

**Sweey:**_** Arg... for some reason my parents deem they need to keep the house at 30 degrees F in our house... I actually put a sweatshirt on because of it! haha, but I'm wearing shorts too... How does that work? Anyway, I didn't update yesterday, that much should be obvious! BUT, that's because I couldn't decide what was going to happen next. Well, I was thinking about it and I finally came up with a solid sequence of events for this next chapter. OOOOO and you're gonna LOVE it! :D I can't wait to see the look on your face- er... what you type in the reveiws!**_

_"When life says give up, hope whispers one more try." ~Somebody_

_**Yeah I was about to put Anonymous and well... we all know he never talks... so it just wouldn't make sense... lol XD So as not to confuse you all, I called this anonymous person, Somebody. Which would be an interesting name for, let's say, a Wanderer... NAH! Maybe some OTHER Wanderer in a DIFFERENT story. :) Anywho I'm gonna shut up know and start typing this next chapter ! ;D**_

_**Chapter 7:**_** Liquid Tears**

I opened my eyes to the darkness of my cell. I could hear water leaking nearby. All I could hear was _drip, drip, drip,_ as they fell from an unseen crevice. For a moment I just stood, leaning against my chains, listening to them as they plummited down to their destination.

Then I recalled where I was and I shook the chains that held me, trying to free myself from them should that be possible. Anger and fear were my strength at that moment. I could feel my muscles strain against the shackles that held me upright against the moist wall. I needed to get out, I had to in order to find her.

_Drip. Drip. Drip. _

If only I could become a body of water, then I could escape.

My thoughts were broken as I heard the prison gate open followed by light footsteps growing louder as they approached my cell.

"I can't imagine you slept well last night," I heard Aygul's voice say to me. "I've tried it and sleeping while standing up chained to a wall by the length of your arms is no easy task."

I had no voice to answer her with.

She attempted conversation again, "They don't have any furnaces down here, so it must have been a cold night, am I right?"

I would have none of it. I stood tall against the chains that held me, showing her that even without sleep, I could stand on my own. Or perhaps I was just trying to prove that to myself.

"You know, after a night here in this cell that Emit fellow was fatigued. You've got a lot of grit seeing as your still standing," Aygul commented as she opened to door to my cell. She brought in a tray of food and began feeding me like a small child. I didn't care, I'd need my strength so I didn't refuse the food despite the insult.

It tasted familar, the stew did. It reminded me of home where I'd make a similar meal for myself. It was odd really, that they were feeding me good food. I had no doubt that it was because Shadox Veroxin was preparing to use me again.

After I finished the meal she set aside the tray and lifted the key to the shackles that held me. This was my chance.

As I tasted my freedom at last, I lept around her, holding her up against the wall.

"That was as expected, Wanderer," Aygul huffed as she stood leaning against the wall.

It was at that moment that I felt the needle that protruded from my chest. It had met the Emerald of Enmity that was my heart.

"Y-you..." I muttered, allowing her from her place up on the wall, but I did not let go. "How d-did you know...?"

"A girl has her ways. Especially if that girl is a mercenary," Aygul said casually, flicking the needle out of my chest. I grunted in pain and staggered a little.

"Now, let us go see Shadox and you better behave yourself, or next time, it won't be this pretty little needle that slides into your heart of stone," she said to me, grinning beneath her blue hood as she pulled a hummingbird blade into my sight. I backed away quickly, not wanting to be anywhere near that wretched knife.

"Let's go see Shadox now, shall we?" she said, taking me forward and holding the hummingbird blade to my back.

Frustrated that I let it get this far, I walked onward as she ordered. I walked silently, so I could hear her every footfall behind me. Should she stumble, I'd break her hands.

She did not stumble and we reached Shadox's chamber in a matter of moments.

"Ah, if it isn't the magnificent Altan Dawn," I heard Shadox say as he sipped from his tea. "I made you some tea as well. It's mint, made just as you like it."

I growled softly as I found myself seated infront of the man I hated the most in this world. A few guards came to chain me in the same fashion Emit had been. Aygul, took her rightful place to Shadox's right, my left.

"So, I assume you believe I'll be sending you on another one of those missions again soon," Shadox began and this time, he had my full interest. Perhaps this was a retreat.

"Seeing as you've only caused me trouble these last few trials, betraying me and such, I decided after a long night's sleep that you'll be taken to the gallows at the fifth hour in the evening and there you will dangle until your death," he said to me.

I was shocked, but I did well to hide it. It only made my need for escape more desperate as the hours passed.

"That wasn't in our agreement, Shadox," Aygul said firmly.

"Oh? If I recall as long as you got the money, I could do whatever I want with whomever I want to," Shadox mused.

Aygul's voice grew low, "I said nothing of the sort. You cannot be so cruel to people who have suffered because of you. I don't care if you leave him in a cell to rot there, but you're not going to end his life. You have no power over death, so you have no right to take life."

Shadox's brows rose, "Is that how you see life? Well, it might be a good idea to look in the mirror sweetheart. You're a mercenary, remember? An assassin, a bloodthirsty killer. Who are you to say that I've no right to kill this man? He did murder countless innocent civilians."

"Yes, you're right, I am a coldblooded assassin, but you're not," Aygul began. "You are a lord of this castle, the Forth Fortress of the Organization. Altan is your servant, whether loyal or not, that's what he is. If you continue treating others so cruelly, those who depend on you, you will have nothing left. You will continue being the Forth Fortress and will never claim a higher peak. And secondly, he did not kill those people, you did. I disected this blade, piece by piece. I know how the poison works, I've submitted to it before. Don't play coil with me, fool. I know everything I need to about the snake you really are."

Shadox scowled at her, "Are you joining the otherside? Because it certainly sounds to me like you are."

"No, I'm merely advising you against hanging this man, he is innocent and everyone else knows it," Aygul said. "Those who don't, they'll believe me."

"I will not change my mind," Shadox growled. "I never do once I've made an oath. That I have over this situation. You can kiss him good-bye and do all you want with him, but when the hour comes, he will be hanged."

I couldn't help myself. She was defending me. Was she really a Wanderer in disguise? She certainly looks to be the part.

Aygul stood and motioned for the guards to come over and unchain me. She took my wrist and nodded to Shadox, then dragged me out of the room. As we reached the prison she motioned for the guards to leave and she brought me back to my cell. She leaned on me again, stroking my beard and sighed.

"I'm not going to let you die, Wanderer. That jerk won't have his chance. Tonight, I'll have Anonymous take you back to your friends, after that, you've gotta get moving," Aygul paused as she finished locking me in my chains, "You have to leave this place or else_ I'll _have to kill you for your stupidity. Trust my words when I say this: I don't like you. No, I think you're a useless archer who'll cower away when the swords are drawn to your neck. That's the way archers are, they run at the first assault and they're fast little suckers too... but, I'm not gonna let Shadox Veroxin get a good show out of an innocent man who's reputation he'd tarnished. No, so be prepared, got it?"

She pulled away and stood a while staring at me, "You remind me of someone I lost a long time ago."

Then she turned heel and left me. I shivered, wondering if my friends were fairing any better with the snow.

...

Aygul moved up the stairs. She wiped away a tear that had slipped from her eye just as Anonymous appeared at her side.

"Oh, hey Anon," she muttered.

The shinobi gazed up at her sadly, his purple eye glowing with concern.

The mercenary waved the matter away, "He just, he's so alone. I remember being like that."

Anonymous laid a hand on hers and she smiled down at him, "Let's go get the money. Tonight, I need you to get that Wanderer back to his friends the way only you can. I assume you heard my conversation with Shadox? I'll create a diversion in the bar, since I'm good at that."

Anonymous nodded and the two friends walked up the stairs to their room. They had a bit of planning to do before they faced Shadox asking for his money.

...

I heard the bells toll, I counted how many there were, "One, two, three." It was three in the morning. I sighed, wincing at my frozen breath. Where the needles had stabbed me still hurt. The two mercenaries both stopped the stroke half way in order to refrain from killing me. Why?

...

"Gimme another one!" A drunk demanded the bar tender, staggering across the room to get to the counter.

There was laughter and the typical chaos going on like every night before last in the fortress bar. Men were passing out, there was gambling going on among the soldiers, and it smelled like sweat and beer.

It quieted as a young man and a one-eyed shadow-shade entered the bar. The two were feared, both known as assassins. Nobody wanted to get on their bad side for fear if they did, they'd live to have another drink.

The young man approached the bar tender, "Give me a glass of your finest wine!" As the man said the words, he plopped a massive sapphire on the table as his payment. He stared out at the bar tender from beneath his blue hood as the fat man stood gawking at the jewel.

Rising to his feet the assassin growled, "Well, are you going to just stand there with your fly trap open or are ya gonna get me my wine?"

The bar tender nodded several times as he moved to the wine cellar, "Of course, of course!"

Once the wine was brought out to the young man, the jewel was handed to the bar tender. As the plump hand reached out to grab it, the mercenary snatched the shirt of the bar tender and pulled him in close.

"You'll get more if you keep that fly trap closed," he said, "Got it?" As he spoke the words, his hand reached for a purse and he handed a diamond to the man along with the promised sapphire.

The bar tender nodded, his double chins wagging with his motions, "I got no ears, eyes, nose, nothing. My mouth is shut!"

"Excellent, now, bring me more wine and keep it coming," the young man muttered.

The bar tender jumped back to fetch more wine and kept it coming, facinated that this young man could handle so many drinks. The others watching were quite interested as well.

The young man stood abruptly and turned to the man beside him, "HEY! WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? WANT ME TO SLIT THAT FAT NECK OF YOURS?"

The man shook his head, "Naw I don't want no trouble, ya heh?"

The young man threw back his head in a loud, mocking burst of laughter, "You sound more drunk than I, eh?"

Another fellow came behind the young man attempting to steal the bag of jewels at his waist, but the young man turned and smiled slyly, "You honestly thought you could just come and steal from me... cause I'm drunk? I'm not drunk dead though, not like you're gonna be if you keep holding that knife like you know what your sins are gonna be!"

The man backed away, dropping the knife as the young man approached him casually with the wine goblet still in hand, "Please, I got a sick wife and kids! I needed the money!"

The young man threw back his hand and laughed again, "Did you rehearse that crap your spewing out at me? Do you know how many times in my life as an assassin that I've heard those... EXACT... words? Come on, at least be a little creative in your dishonesty!"

"I-I..." the man stepped back a few more paces.

The young mercenary snickered, "You were just caught stealing from me and tried to justify your sins, eh? I'd say that's about right." As the words flowed from the charismatic tongue of the young man, the hiss of steel resounded as he unsheathed a curved knife. "You know I've traveled the world quite a bit. I found that the most useful way to get rid of a thief without killing them is to take away the temptation."

The man continued backing away but the mercenary's hand shot out and snatched the man's wrist with an unyeilding grip, slapping it down on a nearby table of mild drinkers. The young mercenary lifted the knife and brought it down, but stopped just as the blade grazed through, producing an oozing trail of blood.

"You're not so tough, now are ya? You're about three times my size but yet your afraid of me..." the mercenary muttered. Sheathing the knife, the mercenary smiled a smile that sent chills up the spines of all who were present.

The man was holding his hand, staring at the mercenary with eyes of glazed fear. "You're like that Stranger fellow, aren't ya? Is that why you where that hood?"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, the man regretted ever saying anything. Pain spilled from his tongue and jaw as the mercenary landed a punch under his chin, sending him sprawling off his feet and into a few men at a nearby table. Those men happened to be quite drunk and thus errupted yet another pleasant bar fight.

The mercenary looked down to his boots and grinned to where the sliver of muscle lay, "So the poor bastard bit off his own tongue... heh." Walking back over to the bar tender, the mercenary turned to his friend, "Alright Anon, go ahead and enjoy your... _freedom_."

Anon swirled the shadows around him then vanished from sight.

The mercenary slapped the goblet on the counter a slight bit angrily, "How 'bout another drink over here, bar tender!"

...

I tried to break the chains once again, but failed miserably. How was I ever going to escape now? I cannot escape death.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

If only I could become unfrozen, to become liquid.

I leaned against the chains, resting, trying to think of some way to escape. I pushed, yanked, and tried to slip away many times, but this was impossible to get past. I could not disappear into the shadows like everyone assumed I could. I was no Shadow-shade. I was only very excellent at hiding. Did that make me a coward? Sighing, I stared into the mirror surface of a puddle that had formed at my feet where the water dribbled down to from the leak. Was I a coward for wearing this hood? Was it because of this that I had lost her?

I felt a tear escape my eye and watched as it plummited down to it's destiny, causing the body of water to ripple as an effect. Like all things in this world, one thing shook the entire being of the water, and so had my soul been shaken. I was to die in less than thirteen hours and my life seemed to have failed. I had not found the truth, was she dead or was she alive? I felt tears falling from my eyes until I began sobbing for my own failure. I had done so much harm, yet I could not fix any of my wrongs, and now I was sentenced to die by the very man who condemned my life.

_"If the tears fall..."_

My eyes widened as I searched the darkness for the one who had spoken.

_"Your sobs call..."_

I could see no one in the room. I was alone.

_"Then you will awaken and flow..."_

I whispered, "Who are you?"

_"Like the water, you will go."_

Instantly, I felt a change in my body. I felt, controlled by some otherworldy force. I watched in horror as my hand disappeared, melting into a clear substance, swift like water. It wasn't long that I found myself joined with that puddle of water. I was illuminated by the glowing purple eye that looked down on me. Anonymous had arrived to take me, but, I was no longer there. I felt myself shift and I rolled over to a drain. I joined with another body of water, until I was swept away to the ancient underground rivers. Not long after, I was pulled out from a spring, taken through a small creek that spit me out with the waterfall into lake until finally I was laid on the shore at the feet of two very familiar friends.

"I told you I'd meet you here."

"L-lord Anduin, Edge?" I stared up at them, now no longer in liquid form. I rose to my feet, thankful for Thorn's hand to steady me.

The two Amasi stared at me smiling expectantly.

I rolled my eyes, "Let me guess, a new spell?"

"Yup," Thorn grunted contently. "Now, explain to me, how do you feel?"

"I feel..." I paused and lurched over hurling out my insides. I turned then, "I told you, I get seasick!"

Thorn scratched his cheek, "Eh, well, it was either that or the gallows."

I shrugged, "Well, thanks anyway."

Edge waited a moment in our silence before speaking, "So, where are Fumu and the others?"

"If fortune favors us, they will still be on the hill near the Forth Fortress," I told him.

"Well, let's go find them," Thorn said, pressing ahead with his staff, Ali, in hand.

Shadows then twisted around, forming a figure that only I recognized, "Anonymous?"

The shinobi looked at me, nodded, and then dashed away, satisfied that I was free.

"Anonymous? That's about as clever a name as Stranger," Thorn snickered.

I grinned, "You know, you're one to talk, Thorn."

Thorn rolled his eyes, "But Anduin suits me just fine."

"Oh yes my lord," I said along with a graceful mock bow. Edge couldn't help but giggle behind me.

Thorn preformed devestation, "Look at that, my most talented Wanderer and my young Shadow have turned against me! Oh the horror of it all!" He grinned slyly, "On the contrary, I could probably take you both with my good eye behind an eyepatch!"

Edge and I exchanged glances, shaking our heads.

Edge grinned, stealing an old quote of Thorn's, "What happened to, 'Teamwork is the greatest weapon above all magic, skill, and such.'?"

Thorn's smile turned sour, "Well you know, I-I..."

I laughed, "Looks like the Shadow just out-witted his Master!"

Thorn snorted, "A master can never be out-witted, only can he be forgetful in many aspects of life due to age."

"I'm sure you meant to put an old infront of that age," Edge added, "Or were you meaning to say experience?"

I shook my head, smiling, "Alright you two, let's get going. Our friends are going to be popsicles by the time we reach them!"

So the three of us, on a much lighter note than before, took our leave through the passage of trees. I dearly prayed that my joke was not to be true.

...

**Sweey:**_** Well, what'dya think? I personally love this chapter. AND LOOK! SIR THORN! :3 WOO! X3 haha and I hope all of you realize that it was Aygul in the bar, people mistook her for a young man... remember? Anywho, I'm gonna try and make this story at least ten chapters long! XD hahaha **_


	8. Too Weary to Be Watchful

**Sweey:**_**WOW! It's been ages sence I've updated this story! I suppose it's good that I haven't cuz I can barely remember what I was going to have happen! :3 Who knows, I'm just gonna wing it this time... and hince forth! lol I realize I've not been updating for like AGES but I've been really busy! I got a horse! WOO! His name is Revelation, or Rev for short. He's a three-year-old Thoroughbred with a shiny chestnut coat and a unique blaze on his face. He looks so noble and cute! ^_^ He was abused by his trainers and lost too many races. They raced him when he was young and so his knees weren't strong enough to bear the wieght of his rider and endure the distance he had to run, so his they fractured. They were going to destroy him when my boss's friend rescued him. She gave him to me about three days ago. I love him so much. Now, today's my older sis's b-day AND I'm working on a costume of Kotaro Fuma from Sengoku Basara because my friends are dragging me to the anime con this year! lol So I decided to be a character who never talks or shows his face... lol good deal, eh? :3 Alright, now I'm gonna shut up with the announcements... and I really shouldn't have had this nutmix... it's making me tummy feel weird... ;.**_

_**OH! One more thing! At this point, the characters are human. NO QUESTION ABOUT IT! I keep writing Aygul, Stranger, and Rioku like they're all humans while I write Thorn, Edge, and Anonymous like their kirbster style characters. Since I'm planning on getting this story published... after this one is done, Meta Knight and Fumu will no longer be a part of the main plot. If you've noticed, I've sorta dropped the two of them altogether. I may keep Fumu in, but not Meta Knight... he's just too canon. Now, you've probably already caught onto this but Rioku and Stranger both refer to Thorn by his Ivoian name, Anduin. :) So whenever the story plays out in Stranger's POV, Thorn's name will be replaced with Anduin or lord. But elsewhere, depending on how they know Thorn, will determine what he will be called. Amasi, Thorn, Sir Thorn, Anduin Isan, Anduin Isan Thorn, etc... yeah, I'm sure you know the drill by now! lol**_

**Chapter 8: **_**Too Weary to be Watchful**_

The snow had fallen, rising the white ground to our knees as we tred through the ice. My cloak waved stiffly behind me, frozen by the water melted into it as the millions flakes of fell from the grey sky above. It constantly became harder to see as we progressed towards the hills where our friends should be.

I heard the bells toll echo through the hills. I had escaped death with the help of my lord, Anduin, and his shadow, Edge. My hand unconciously reached for my throat as I imagined myself dangling in the gallows from a noose when I felt my lord's grip on my shoulder and I turned to meet his gray eyes. Flakes of snow were caught in his goatee and I had a feeling that they had caught onto my own facial hair, not that it was very thick. I shifted my gaze from his and sighed, glancing at young Edge who walked behind his Master without complaint, with his arms wrapped around himself in an attempt to keep warm.

We were frozen, weary, and the snowfall was escalating. My clothes were soaked to my skin from my sweat. My exposed hands and face were burning with the cold and my legs were numb as well. It was growing more difficult to continue and due to my lack of sleep for the past few nights, I found it toilsome to stay awake with eyes focused on the top of the hill that we were dragging ourselves to reach.

When we did, my eyes caught sight of an orange glow in the distance. Then, blue light branched upward to the clouds and I knew that my friends had caught sight of us. Jebediah had preformed brilliantly, using his lightening instead of creating a more unnatural signal, like say a sword beam from Meta Knight's Galaxia. I turned and Lord Anduin's staff, Ali, glowed brighter for a moment and then the signalling stopped. I watched as the shadows twisted from the trees, now blue and grey due to the lack of pure sunlight, and smiled weakly as Rioku appeared beside me.

He burst into his usual strange, but expected form of greeting, "Bless the Milkyway Galaxy! How did you escape?"

"Our lord has returned," I replied simply, my smile growing as the shinobi's one good eye dropped focus from me to the kingly figure of Anduin behind me. Immediately he fell to a graceful bow in the snow and I watched with warmth in my heart as our lord pulled Rioku from bowing.

"For one thing my shinobi, it is far too cold to be sitting in the snow," Anduin said grinning.

"Yes my lord," Rioku whispered as he stood back to his feet.

Anduin straightened himself, "Now, let's go reunite with the others."

Rioku nodded and walked on leading the way for us. It only took a few minutes to reach the valley and another bit to enter the encampment half way up the side of the next hill. Though to myself, it seemed like hours.

Everyone stood to their feet when we entered. The encampment was in a small pine grove, the evergreen branches providing a suitable shield from the falling snow.

Fumu was the first to say anything,"Edge!" She dashed off to the young Amasi warrior and threw her arms around his neck followed by a warm embrace between the two of them.

"I missed you Fumu," Edge whispered to he so quietly that I imagine the three of us are the only ones who know what had been spoken.

"Oh, I missed you too Edge. So much, I did," Fumu whispered back.

Their warm embrace ended and they walked hand in hand together back to one of the logs positioned as seating around the large fire that had been built. Edge pulled a blanket over their shoulders for the two of them to share as they sat their. From that point on, it was rare to not see the two of them looking into one another's eyes.

"You better get changed before you freeze to death Stranger," I heard Rioku say behind me. He handed me a white, silk shirt and some woolen trousers for me to get into while my clothing was hung over the fire to dry. I could feel all eyes on me and I knew they were hoping that my hood would be discarded as I slipped into the tent to change. Sighing, I slipped out of my drenched clothes and I placed the thin, cream scarf over my eyes before I exited the tent and handed the clothes off to Rioku, who set to work drying them.

Anduin approached me and threw a blanket over my shoulders that had been warmed by the fire. I accepted the gesture gratefully and allowed a faint smile when he took the seat beside me.

"There is still quite a lot still yet to be accomplished..." he began.

I nodded, "It's going to be far more dangerous from here on out..."

Anduin sighed, "Very true. You were close to death... so does this mean Shadox Veroxin no longer needs your help as Faceless?"

I frowned and dipped my head in reply.

"Good, that is one less thing for us to worry about..." I heard my lord, Anduin, murmur.

I gazed up at the screen of branches and a few flakes of snow that escaped them kissed my face with their icy lips. I could feel tears building up in my eyes and I watched as my lord stood and motioned me to do the same. He pulled me over a few feet away from the encampment so we could be alone and free to discuss matters.

"I know you miss my daughter, I do to... but you cannot blame yourself for what happened in the past should she not be alive. I made the mistake of doing that once and now that I deem that she lives, I feel I have new strenghth..." Anduin sighed.

I bit my bottom lip in attempt to keep my chin from quivering with the urge to begin sobbing. I refused to do so infront of my lord, but he believed otherwise.

"Altan, it is alright to feel pain; it is alright to shed tears. Do not fear shame, no one will believe you are any less a man than you are because of your show of agony for the fear for a loved one," he told me.

My chest heaved as the need to cry grew greater. I felt foolish, but my lord was telling me that I shouldn't, so I must comply to his orders.

The first tear fell, free to fall down my cheek and dribble through the stubbled beard that flecked my jaws. Then came another, followed by the next, until they flowed like a never ending river down my face, causing the cloth over my eyes to dampen. I felt Thorn's fingers reach for the cloth and slip it off. He embraced me and I buried my face in his shoulder, sobbing my heart out infront of everyone. Like everything I did, I did so quietly. My lord understood my pain, it was his daughter I loved after all.

I stood, with my back to my friends behind me, and I reached blindly for the cloth that Anduin held in his hands. I would not open my eyes, I would not let them be harmed by my eyes. In relief my fingers felt the cloth and I gripped onto it, sliding the cloth over my eyes.

Anduin nodded, "Do realize that we all are concerned for you, Altan. We hate to see you suffer."

Frowning, I dipped my head before slipping away to one of the tents where I fell into a much needed slumber.

...

"UGH! I hate waiting..." Aygul growled as she paced the interior of one of the rooms in their apartment.

Anonymous stared at her with a weary look, his one visible eye providing expression enough.

The female mercenary snorted, "You'd think that Shadox would be a little more urgent with matters such as these!"

Shrugging, Anonymous plopped onto one of the beds. Aygul ranted like this often, it was best to just listen to her and let her be. ...Not that he'd ever say anything to her anyways. At least, not in a place like this.

She plopped into a seat infront of an empty vanity dresser, "I mean, who does he think he is? What, so he just _assumes _that we helped that sorry Wanderer escape? Yeah sure we were planning to, but you brought me this, so I know that we're dealing with an Amasi..." the anger in her voice died down as she looked at the water inside of the cup that Anonymous had brought to her with a written explanation of what had happened. She knew Anonymous would die before he told a lie, so no matter how bizarre something seemed, she had to believe it. And when something was _this_ bizarre, one could only judge that it had to be nothing less of a Master Amasi Warrior, possibly one with a shadow.

She set the can down and jumped to her feet again, "But seriously, he just thinks he can waltz in and dock our pay because of a mere _assumption_? Huh uh, no, I don't think so Mr. Veroxin! Now you've gone and made me angry! And what about you Anon? Can't you at least, like, growl or something?"

Anonymous's purple eye shifted to the side, "..."

Aygul threw her arms up in defeat, "Of course! It's always the same with you! Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Make an angry face then! Do it now!"

His brows drew beneath the cloth mask and Aygul smiled, "Now that's more like it."

In return, the ninja's eye smiled.

She dropped to the floor, crossing her legs, "So, should we take care of this Amasi pest now or later...?" She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, "Let me rephrase that, should we kill them before Shadox finds out or after he decides to give us a raise?"

Anonymous merely stared at her, like he usually did in these situations.

Aygul sighed contently, "I agree, a raise sounds nice... besides, I don't feel like getting my butt kicked by a Master Amasi unless I have something worth fighting for. So, is he in league with that Wanderer?"

The shadow-shade nodded and Aygul's brows rose, "Well that makes it quite a bit more tricky, now doesn't it? Particularly if the Amasi is half as clever as that Wanderer... what was his name again?" She tossed him a slip of paper and a pen for him to write it on.

She mused over it, "Stranger... why in the world does that name sound so familiar?"

Anonymous shrugged and her frown deepened, "Well... I'll find out eventually."

There was a knock at the door and Captain Tuncay stepped into the room, "Aygul, Lord Shadox wants you and Anonymous to meet him on the outskirts of the fortress."

Aygul perked up, "Oh really, and why is that?"

"He's sending his own men after the Amasi and the Wanderer. He wants them brought to the fortress immediately," Tuncay answered.

Aygul and Anonymous exchanged glances then nodded to the captian and left to go join in the chaos.

**Sweey:**_** Alright, I'm done with this chapter. I'm tired and my hands hurt... ;c I've got work to do and guess what! Idk... I'm eating NUTS! XD And I watched an anime in Jap without Subs! Man, I must really be a die hard fan of Sengoku, cuz boy was that EP FUNNAH! haha I'd not a clue as to what was going on... X3 I feel like drawing... :3 **_


	9. The Faceoff

**Sweey:**_**I'm typing quietly... starting this chapter at 11:o5 at night... lol. My peeps are awake in the other room, but I just have to get this off my mind or I'll be awake all night with my excitement. Therefore, I'll be typing a forth of this chapter tonight... then the other three forths tomorrow waking up around 6:oo instead of my usual 9:oo! XD haha Well, be prepared for some epicsauce as we wrap up this story and prepare for the next! :D **_

**Chapter 9:**_**The Faceoff**_

My eyelids flew open and the pools of black within my green irises stretched out trying to adapt to the starlight that leaked through the branches above me. I sat up, freezing, finding my blankets gone. What's more, no tent sheltered my head from the constant snowfall. Where were my friends? What had happened to them all?

It was then that I heard the drum role. A rumbling sound, rythmetic and foul, like the sound of a dragon's empty stomache. It was comming from the otherside of the hill that I was on. So I set my wandering feet on a quest up to the top of that hill so I could perhaps identify this peculiar situation.

I stood and looked down. My feet were bare and shackles wrapped around my ankles, making it difficult to even walk. Cold sweat started to dribble down my forehead as my worry for my friends escalated. I began crawling my way up the steep hill, scraping away past the underbrush, plowing through the thorn bushes that clawed at my face, and squeazed through the twisted roots of fallen trees who had lost the battle against winter. Numbness began to creep over my muscles as I plunged into the snow again, unable to walk. Fingers burning, my hands begged me to refrain from dropping them into the glowing white fluff that layered my path and drenched my clothing as my body heat worked against me and melted the icy substance.

Finally, I managed to drag myself through one last thorn bush and found that I was now on top of the hill. I looked downward and squinted to see what was taking place in the valley below, perching myself in a nest of dead leaves under a broken tree where I was sheltered from the neverending white flakes that fell from the seemingly clear night sky.

I glanced up when I realized my thoughts. The snow was falling from nowhere. Not a cloud littered the sky yet the snow was falling, almost tricking my eyes into believeing that the distant stars were floating down from the sky. But then the beating of the drums began again and I dropped my head and looked down into the valley.

In that valley was a magnificent contraption built in the center of a circle of torches. There was a large crowd shouting, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. They were all voicing something different. Some were angry, others eager. A select few were even crying, almost denying whatever was to occur. Then came a giant of a man dressed entirely in black with a beautiful white dove resting on his shoulder. The dove held what appeared to be a length of rope and I watched as the man in black fiddled with this rope, cutting it into eight different pieces. I watched in horror as the scene unfolded. Eight nooses, lined and perfectly spaced across a sturdy beam that formed the gallows. Then, as I begged for it not to be, my friends were taken up the crude staircase and positioned, each in front of their own noose.

I knew I had to do something, I had to fix this. They would not die because of me. Taking hold of the shackels I pulled out a lock-pick and began to fiddle with them, trying to get them off. Then I felt a presence behind me and I turned to find Anonymous there, staring at me with his one, glowing purple eye.

I could only muster a few words, "A-Anonymous? W-what's going on?"

The one-eyed shinobi stared at me a moment, then dipped his hand into a pouch and pulled out a key. He showed it to me, then he thrust it forward and I watched in dismay as it fell into a crevice on the iced surface of a pond. I turned, angry and grieved by his cruelty.

Then an unmistakeable sensation met my gut and I toppled over in terrible pain. Anonymous's one eye grinned at me as he pulled the Hummingbird Blade out of my gut. And with soft, almost silent words he said, "Use your new eyes to find the key."

And then all went black...

...

Aygul growled as she stood outside the door to their appartment, "Anonymous, where did you go?"

As if that was his que, the shadows swirled around, massing up, and produced the one-eyed shinobi.

The spunky mercenary huffed in her frustratons, "Now where did you run off to?"

Anonymous simply stared, reminding Aygul of his conditions.

"Well, now that you are finally back from your little expedition," she paused and gave him a questionalbe look, "Could you please open the door to our appartment before I freeze to death. I don't have a clue as to where I put the key."

Anonymous rolled his eye and pulled the shadows over him, sinking into the stone floor of the fortress. A moment later Aygul watched as the lock twisted and the door opened with Anonymous staring at her as usual.

Sighing, the mercenary slid past him, "Honestly, I don't know where I put that key."

She took her place on her bed and Anonymous sat down on his own.

"I needed a break from all that idiocy in the courtyard. Can you believe how Shadox treats us? It's insane, no, he's insane! I mean, what's his problem? What's so bad about this Wanderer anyhow? I mean, all he does is wear a hood and shoot twigs at people," she paused and looked at Anonymous, "Who is he really? Stranger isn't much of a name, is it?"

Anonymous gave her a quizzical look.

"Well, you're right, neither is Anonymous, but I know your real name so it doesn't really make a difference. But him..." she glanced off out the window at the snow falling outside, "He is so lonely... and mysterious. You can just sense the pain and suffering he's been through. It radiates off of him. And even though you can't see his eyes, you can still sense the strength in them."

She flinched as Anonymous laid a hand on her shoulder, saying nothing to her, but he didn't have to.

"I know... I should feel sorry for him, but I do..." she let go of another sigh. "We better get back out to the courtyard and join the chaos before Shadox realizes that we ditched his stupid cause."

The shinobi nodded and led the way out of the appartment, locking the door for Aygul then returning by her side as they walked down the many staircases until they finally made it outside into the courtyard.

Aygul turned briefly to Anonymous, "Go check on the Wanderer's movements."

Immediately, the Shadow-Shade disappeared to do as he was ordered.

With her blue hood covering her face. Aygul stepped out in confidence, knowing well that every man present viewed upon her with fear and awe. She didn't have to worry about any of them trying to overthrow her. Except of course, for a certain man dressed in black who stepped forward in an egocentric stride.

"Hello Aygul," the man in black said, "I'm surprised to see your still here in all this chaotic mess!"

Aygul glared at the man in black, "Well if it isn't Spiral, my rival."

"Awe, I'm touched truly," Spiral answered, "If only I could be more than your rival. I could get closer to the lovely woman beneath that hood." As his hand extended out to touch her breast, but Aygul shot out her own and twisted his wrist behind his back.

"Not on my watch," she growled, "You're not gonna touch me like that. Not even my dead body."

Spiral snorted, "You'll warm up to me one of these days." At that moment, a purple haze enveloped him and his being shifted into Anonymous. "One of these days you'll enjoy the luxery of me being a Satisan."

"Not even if you were the only man alive," Aygul snapped. "Now get away from me. Your breath stinks and I need to go talk with my lord."

Spiral grinned, shifting back to his former self, "You did mean to say your current lord, right?"

Aygul's eyes rolled beneath her blue hood, "Whatever, it doesn't really make a difference, now does it?"

"You never cease to amaze me, Aygul," Spiral muttered, "I mean, even though you know you'll loose this fight, you still go on and do your duty."

Aygul turned heel around sharply and faced the man in black, "And what would you know of this particularl _duty_?"

"Oh believe me, you and I both know that this resistance to the Organization is far more dangerous than the last few thousand," Spiral pointed out, "And you know very well who that Wanderer is."

"No, I really don't. His name is Stranger and with that being said, he's a stranger to me," Aygul said glaring. "I'm done with this conversation," she declared as she slipped quickly through the crowds and disappeared among the people as she made her way for the small figure of Shadox Veroxin in the distance.

"It's about time you showed up, Aygul," the lord said as he poured himself a cup of tea.

Aygul rolled her eyes again, "Well, it's not like I had a choice. I was reunited with an old adversary."

Shadox's browse rose, "Oh, you mean Spiral from the Third Fortress?"

"You know that he's here? Well, I can't say I'm surprised, he does make a big show of himself," Aygul muttered.

"Oh no, I hired him temporarily. Kadir Kadri sent him to me to help exterminate the Wanderer who escaped," Shadox claimed. "So you and Anonymous will be working with him."

"WHAT! If you think I'm insane then keep talking! I am not working with that piece of pond scum! He'll more likely increase the risk of failure than help us," Aygul snorted angrily.

"You will work with him, or you will not be getting your reward," Shadox threatened.

Aygul's mouth snapped shut, before she decided it was time she voiced her thoughts, "You know what Shadox? I don't need your gold. I have a feeling you're not as rich as you really are. And you know what else? The only reason Doruk keeps you alive is because he needs someone as ugly as you to keep this perimiter under his control!"

With that said, she turned and walked a few steps before stomping on the ground. Instantly, the one-eyed shinobi rose from the ground, bringing shadows with him and swirled them around the two of them, pulling them into the ground. Before anyone could react, the two were gone.

A clanking crash sounded throughout the courtyard as the teacup fell from Shadox's hands and shattered. His face was reddened with both embarrassment and frustration. Without those two on his side, his chances of winning were slim.

His voice grew shrill as he called, "Spiral!"

The Satisan Shape-Shifter came to his new lord's side, "Yes Shadox?"

"I want you to go after Aygul and Anonymous. Make sure that they don't side with the Wanderer," Shadox growled.

Spiral rolled his eyes, "You made Aygul angry, didn't you? Well, nice going."

"Just shut up and do as I say mercenary," Shadox snarled.

Spiral rased a brow then bowed, "Sure thing, jerk."

With that, the Satisan dashed off to do his duty.

...

I jerked awake, pulling myself upright. I could feel tears forming from my eyes and I whiped them away. There was no way my friends were still alive.

"Wait..." I looked around, finding myself inside the tent as morning light filtered through the canvas. I did not see in green and my eyes did not glow. So, had it all just been a terrible nightmareish dream?

Rioku's urgent voice called to me from outside my tent as his silhoutte was painted on the surface of my tent, "Hurry up Stranger!"

I jumped to my feet and dashed out of the tent, grabbing my bow as I came out. As I did, I found myself inches away from Rioku's face, his one good eye staring at me in shock.

"Um, your breakfast is getting cold," Rioku said carefully. "Are you okay?"

I straightened my back and squared my shoulders, throwing my quiver over my back. "Don't sound so demanding when you're calling for breakfast. I thought something was wrong."

Bun giggled, "I just thought you were really hungry."

My stomache growled, "Well, I suppse I am."

Jebediah snickered, "Anduin made enough for all of us, so dig in!"

I looked down at the plate of cheesy eggs that Edge handed up to me, "Here, they're still hot."

I smiled my thanks and threw a glare at Rioku.

He shrugged, "Hey, if necessary, I lie. Do you think you could tell?"

I rolled my eyes and began to devour my eggs.

"I didn't think so," Rioku said grinning.

"So, Rioku, you infiltrated the fortress last night," Meta Knight began, "Did you figure anything out?"

Rioku sighed, "All I know is that they're after us. Specifically Lord Anduin, his shadow, and Stranger."

Jebediah frowned, "I assume he wants them alive, but not the rest of us?"

"I'm not so sure. He said that we were all prizes, since all of us did play a role in the victory for the GSA during the Everlasting War with Nightmare," the shinobi answered.

Emit cocked his head, "So, what do we do?"

"Just how many men do they have after us, Rioku-san?" All eyes turned onto lord Anduin.

"Maybe thirty fighting men at the most," Rioku answered almost mechanically, "Along with a Satisan, a mercenary, and a Shadow-Shade shinobi."

"Those three may pose a threat, but the thirty, well, that won't be too difficult to handle," Anduin said.

Meta Knight was a little doubtful, "And what do you mean by that? You mean to tell us that we, eight strong, could defeat them, who are thirty strong?"

"That's exactly what I mean," Anduin answered easily.

"Do tell," Jebediah said, curiosity evident in his voice.

"Oh, you'll see," he replied, winking at Edge who mirrored his gesture.

Fumu grinned, "What are you two planning?"

"Oh, nothing more than a show for those dastards," Edge declared, brushing his shoulder against hers.

"I see," Fumu said, smiling.

Anduin nodded, "Oh you will."

Jebediah frowned, "Um... excuse me? Are you forgetting something?"

I grinned, "You know, as much time that I've spent with you two, I think I have a pretty good idea as to what you're going to do. Don't worry though, I won't spoil it for everyone."

Jebediah snorted, "Well, we wouldn't what that, now would we?"

My grin broadened, "Of course not! My lord ordered me not to!"

"Of course, we wouldn't want to go against his word," Jebediah grinned, "That would be terrible!"

The lot of us giggled and Fumu took my plate to clean it with the snow. I watched as my lord stood and walked with him as he laid a hand on my shoulder to lead me a little apart from the others. He beckoned for Rioku to join us and the shinobi zapped over to us.

"Stranger, know that at some point we're going to have to use this," he held out his hand and Rioku placed a Hummingbird Blade in his palm.

I took a few steps back, my jaw dropping in shock, "You mean to use me as a weapon?"

"No, we're going to confuse the enemy," Anduin answered. "We're going to make them believe that you're on their side."

"But what if Shadox..." I couldn't voice the terrible thought.

"If he takes control of you, I will do everything I can to counter his magic," Anduin told me and I relaxed a little.

"I'll do it," I told him and he placed the wretched blade in my hands.

My lord nodded, "I will let you know when it is time for you to use it."

He then walked on to rejoin with the others.

Rioku stepped beside me, "I'll watch your back, like I always do Stranger. We're gonna fix this problem together, alright. Besides, I've got a shuriken with Anonymous written all over it!" He pulled out a massive shuriken, parted with four blades, each sharpened and curved. The four blades layered over each other to form to X shapes, crossed over one another. It literally had Anonymous written all over it.

I rolled my eyes, "Have fun with that number."

Rioku laughed, "Oh I will, don't you worry!"

I stared off at the fortress that rested in the valley. I prayed that this would all end soon so that we could go home. I wanted to find her, and I would.

...

"Man, it's bitterly cold out here!" Aygul continued pressing on through the snow toward the hills in the distance. "I just hope our wandering friend will believe us."

Anonymous nodded, knowing that he probably would. Then he sensed a new shadow among them, walking quickly toward the two from behind. Immediately, the shinobi pulled out seventeen needles of which he displayed neatly in his hand.

"Hey, relax, it's just me."

Aygul narrowed her eyes, "What are you doing here Spiral?"

"Just bringing you some warm, furry coats. You know, since I care so much about your well being," Spiral answered.

"I didn't ask for your help, and I don't want it either," Aygul snapped. She turned heel and continued walking, though Anonymous accepted the coats from Spiral, knowing that they'd need them later. Spiral stared off after them and he growled.

Dashing after the two mercenaries, Spiral pulled out a chain whip and flicked it at Aygul, but Anonymous stepped between them and took the blow to his back. The shinobi fell to the ground, sinking into it, his blood staining the snow.

"Where'd you go, you little twit?" Eyes shifting around his position, Spiral searched the snow for any sign of the shinobi. Then came a stinging slap on his cheek and he turned to face Aygul. She positioned her arm to where the thorn-like blades on her right gauntlet faced the other mercenary in black.

Anger was evident on her face, though most of it was hidden beneath the blue hood, "How dare you hurt him!" She lunged forward, slashing the thorn blades across Spiral's chest, but Spiral stepped back, saving himself from the potentially fatal wound that Aygul had intended.

He threw his head back and laughed, "You really are a fiesty one! What I'd do to get a night in bed with you!"

"Ugh! You're disgusting! Never would I even think about being with such a filthy man!" Aygul stepped lightly to the side as Spiral's whip came for her waist. She didn't expect that he'd flick it back so fast and it rebounded, wrapping around her torso like the coils of a snake. She tried to pull free as he drew her in.

"You'll find out someday that I'm a far better partner than that Anonymous fellow," he said as he approached her neck, his lips and tongue meeting her neck.

Furious and red in the face, Aygul kicked her leg up and met the spot that hurt the most. Spiral dropped his grip on the whip and fell to his knees, "Man, that was low,,."

He didn't have time to say anything else when Aygul's foot met his face and knocked him backward, landing on his back in the deep snow, causing the wind to escape from his lungs.

"Love hurts," Aygul growled as she stepped away, still wrapped in the whip. Anonymous rose from the ground, standing tall before her and he helped her out of Spiral's weapon.

As they left the jerk where he lay in the snow, Aygul looked at Anonymous with worry, "How badly are you hurt? I saw your blood that stained the snow."

Anonymous shook his head but Aygul reached out and turned him around, wincing at the wound that she found slashed across his back. It started up on his right shoulder and down to his left hip.

Aygul frowned, "Oh Anonymous... as soon as we reach the Wanderer and his friends, I'll dress it for you."

Anonymous turned, his eye smiling wearily at her and they continued walking onward toward the hill.

They both sensed it, the rumbling of a hundred feet, racing toward the hill. Anonymous wrapped the shadows around the both of them and they hid beneath the trees as thirty or so armed men ran past them. By then, Spiral had recovered and was leaping through the trees over the men.

"I hate him," Aygul muttered. She then felt Anonymous's hand on her shoulder and she sighed, knowing that they both hated the man, but their goal was to reach the Wanderer before the others did.

Then came an unpleasant sight. A dragon, horrible and wicked, stretched its long, serpent-like neck over the hill and roared. The men stopped dead in their tracks as the great beast pulled back it's head, not sure of what was to occur. Fire, it stretched over them and grabbed them all up like a hand of death. A moment later, nothing was left.

Wide eyed and terrified, Anonymous and Aygul sat watching from the shadows.

"They're all gone... just gone..." Aygul whispered in horror. She began to wonder if the Wanderer and his friends had also met such a fate.

...

**Sweey:**_** This story isn't over yet! One more chapter and it's done! But boy is it gonna be a good one! haha Man, I've been typing so much that my fingers are peeling with dead skin on the tips of them! XD GROSS! lol Anyways, you're in for another few hundred surprises here after... lol so get ready. It may be done today, or it may be done tomorrow. IDK! But it's gonna be gooooooooood! Review time! ;D**_


	10. Stolen Shadows and Forgotten Friends

**Sweey:**_** Here it goes! Let's see if I can't can't finish up this story so we can get on to the next part! lol Anyways, pay close attention. Who knows where my crazy imagination will take you! I've got a basic idea of how I want this part to end, but it's still a little fuzzy, so I'm not sure how I'm gonna pull it off... let's see, who should we start with? Ah yes...**_

**Chapter 10:**** Stolen Shadows and Forgotten Friends**

As snow began to fall again, Aygul crept out of hiding and stepped out on to the soggy grass. The snow had been melted by the fire of the dragon and those who had been running forth toward the hill had become nothing more than a pile of black ash stirred by the west winds.

"They really are gone. Completely," the mercenary muttered, still overcome by shock. She turned as she felt Anonymous's hand on her wrist. And he looked toward the hill with his visible eye and she took the hidden message, nodding in agreement. They had to find out if the Wanderer and his friends had me the same fate as these men who were burned by the dragon they'd just seen. In order to do so without meeting death like the unfortunate others, Anonymous used the shadows as cover for them both.

Quickly, they went up and over the hill until the saw an irregular light in the distance. It was fire, they realized, but it was burning a shade of red-pink.

"The Amasi," Aygul whispered to the shinobi who was running before her, "That has to be him!"

As they drew closer to the peculiar flame, Aygul's presumption had been correct. There stood the Amasi Warrior and his Shadow in deep conversation and unaware of those who listened.

"Now that we have scared them with the dragon, we will position ourselves as a wall between our friends. Meta Knight is taking Fumu and Bun back to the Halberd. They will return home and wait for us while we work on fixing this predicament," the Master said to his Shadow. Snowflakes made it difficult for them to be truly seen by the two viewers.

The Shadow then spoke, "But, Master Thorn, where are Stranger and the others?"

Thorn looked down at his apprentice, "Stranger is at the Painted Cliffs by now, along with Jebediah, Rioku, and Emit. Stranger and his shinobi friend will infiltrate the Forth Fortress again soon and take Shadox Veroxin prisoner. We'll ask for a ransom and at that time, we'll ask for information."

The young Ivoian then spoke, "Information on the other fortresses."

"That and other important facts like Doruk Hakan's location that we must know in order to overthrow the Organization," Thorn answered.

"Afterwhich we'll inform Drifter and Sir Arthur," the Shadow added, looking up at the clouds who cried frozen tears.

"Correct, Edge. That is exactly what we'll do," the Master said grinning.

Anonymous glanced over at Aygul as he sensed a change in her. Her face was pale and her eyes were widened. Assuming that it was because of the plans to overthrow the Organization, he let it slide past his eye. He then felt a tug on his fingers as she began to ease away from the shadows that hid them from the sight of the two Amasi Warriors.

The two turned in shock as Aygul approached them, with a queer look painted on her face that was hidden beneath her blue hood.

The Master took a firm battle stance, "What do you want?"

Immediately, Aygul shook off her odd manner and squared her shoulders, "Why should I tell you, Amasi? You certainly killed quite a lot of people out there today with that dragon trick of yours!"

Thorn grunted, "It got the job done, didn't it?"

Aygul's foot stamped the snow as her hand reached her hip, "Do you really think you should be teaching that kind of catastrophic magic to a kid?" She gestured to Edge, who flinched at the word 'kid'.

"He's far more than ready to handle such magic," Thorn snapped sharply. "Now, begone, or be prepared to face me with all that you've got!" As the Amasi Master said the words, the red-pink flame on his spear's head, bled further over the spear itself, until the old Ivoian's entire arm and shoulder was covered in the hungry flames. His other hand rose, forming in a symbol foreign to the two mercenaries. His apprentice took similar preparations, opening his medallion and pulling out several blue stones, which orbited around his torso as he drew out two curved blades; one black, the other white.

Aygul stepped forward, pulling her arms outward as two short blades retracked out of her gauntlets.

She rubbed one of the blades casually, holding it close to her face, "I usually use these for quick assassinations only, but it looks like this is a good time as any to put them to work!"

"Despite your advantage, this doesn't seem fair, does it? It's two against one," Thorn pointed out coolly to the mercenary.

Anonymous swirled from the shadows beside her.

"Think again, Amasi," Aygul growled with a wicked smile peeking from beneath her hood. "We're even."

Then the faceoff began. Aygul rushed forth toward the Master Amasi with grit and spirit bringing her to him at whirling speed, her blades held ready to slice his throat. As the Amasi took his first wound, he stepped back and grinned, "It's going to take a lot more than a scratch to take me down!"

Aygul grinned, "Good, I've been itching for a good fight!"

Lunging forth, the two locked blades again. There an abrupt zapping sound and a flash of sense-killing light as Thorn summoned the lightning above and it thrust Aygul back into a tree, knocking the wind out of her lungs.

Another flash of light blazed against the trees, blue in hue and hot to the senses, that was thrust from Edge's left-hand blade, which nearly disappeared in the shimmering of the falling snow. His brows drew in with frustration as the shinobi vanished again just as the blue ball of light neared him. Anonymous had done this countless times already, vanishing from the point of impact at the most crucial moments. It set Edge on his toes and kept his eyes shifting around, searching for any signs of irregular shadows. There was a feint hiss and Edge turned around to find seventeen needles sailing through the air. Hastily he fell backward, the needles just missing his chest. He jumped up, throwing several blue balls of fire at his shady adversary. As he had before, Anonymous disappeared, though this time, he reappeared a second too early and found one of the blue masses inches from his face. The shinobi pulled back, but was too late and the mass exploded onto his arm. It burned him terribly.

Edge held his ears and closed his eyes as he hated hearing the screams that followed the wound of the fire everytime. He waited a moment before he opened his eyes and looked over at the shinobi. He appeared to be in horrible agony, but when Edge lifted his hands from his ears, no terrible cry reached them, not even a groan or a whimpering whisper of pain came from the one-eyed shinobi. It confused Edge entirely and he stepped closer to the grey-clad figure, hoping to find understanding to the inpenetrable quietness of this shinobi. He was no mute, for if he was a mute, he would make crackling sounds with his throat, but that was not the case. No, Anonymous was dead quiet and it sent shivers down the young Ivoian's spine as he met the shinobi's visible eye, evidently he was hurting severely from the wound inflicted upon him by Edge.

Looking down and around the shinobi, Edge realized then something was missing from the shinobi, something that was easily over looked.

"You don't have a shadow," the young Ivoian finally pointed out and immediately he regretted ever saying anything.

There was a whirl of grey and purple as the shinobi exploded forth from the snow, throwing his weight against the young Ivoian before him, knocking him to the ground.

A blur of light escaped from Thorn's spear, onto the approaching shinobi who was preparing to make the killing blow on Edge, who was beginning to loose conciousness.

Aygul thrashed forward with one of her blades, "Hey, eyes on me! I'm your adversary!"

Thorn's eyes narrowed at the hooded girl, "You're quite bold, mercenary." The Master Amasi Warrior lifted his staff and swung it in a large arch, down upon the mercenary. Aygul crossed her blades just in time to keep the firey spear from fataly wounding her. Unexpectedly, Thorn kicked out his foot and bashed against Aygul's gut, sending her flying back again.

Anonymous dashed off to help her up but she pushed his gentle hands away and regained her feet on her own.

"We'll finish this another time, Amasi. For I've got a Wanderer to catch," Aygul growled. Taking the unspoken order, Anonymous quickly brought the shadows around them and they left the Amasi's sight, but not their senses.

Thorn turned to his Shadow and they nodded to one another. Using their magic as a guide, the two dashed after the two mercenaries in hope to catch them before they intertwined with Stranger and Rioku, causing more trouble to their already fragile plan.

...

I stared off at the rigid figure of the Forth Fortress as I stood on the edge of the Painted Cliffs, refraining my eyes from looking down to the plummiting drop below me. Rioku and I had already separated from Jebediah and Emit, who had positioned themselves at a point half way between Meta Knight's battleship and the Painted Cliffs that overlooked the fortress.

Rioku tugged at my shadow, "You okay?"

I turned to him, shrugging. There was little else I could voice to him that he didn't already know about.

The shinobi shifted from one foot to the other, "You know we're going to have to catch him alive, right?"

I faced my back to him again, "Yes." The word came out flatly and more aggressively than I had intended. I was annoyed with the situation, especially since I had to capture that wretch alive. Who cares about information and questions? He should die as soon as possible! But my lord, Anduin, had told me otherwise, so I must contain myself no matter how much I dislike of his orders.

"Stranger, we can end this all the right way or we can let history repeat itself," Rioku began.

I heaved a sigh, "I know, I know, Anduin made that clear to me. Let us just be done with it all one and for all!"

With heavy strides I set off toward the edge of the nearest cliff. As I prepared to swing my leg over the ledge to make the climb down, a distinct almost ominously low hum reached my ears. Immediately my body began to tremble and I grew utterly defensive, standing rigid there on the cliff side.

Rioku's voice called up to me, as he had already began to climb downward, "Stranger, is something wrong?"

I could not answer him, my eyes were locked on the man before me.

"It's good to know that you recognize your old lord's face," his raspy, yet contridictingly smooth voice flowed out to me, "Faceless..."

My mouth went dry with fear and my eyes grew wide beneath my hood as he lifted up the blade that had produced the low humming sound I had heard just seconds before this moment.

"You know, it's nice to have a hooded Wanderer on our side, you know? And you'd think that Doruk Hakan would appreciate my efforts and raise my rank but no, he just over looks my greatness! So, I'm trying to decide whether or not I should just kill you here and now or send you to assassinate the other three lords and their king," Shadox tossed the Hummingbird Blade in his hand, as though he were testing it's weight.

I could not move, not when he was there with that terrible blade in his hands.

Rioku heaved himself over another ledge and came to my side, his chest heaving, "I came as fast as I... could..." His words trailed off as he met the gaze of Shadox Veroxin, who stood there with a fiery look in his eyes.

"Spiral, take care of that shinobi there for me," Shadox said over his shoulder. It was then that I noticed the man that stood slightly to Shadox's right. There was an air of evil that radiated off of him and I could tell that he was more evil than many I knew, save for Veroxin himself.

Spiral gradually moved forward, saying not a word.

Rioku snorted, "You smell foul. You reek like a Satisan!"

Spiral's brows drew into a scowl, "I am a Satisan."

Rioku rolled his eye, "Are you calling me stupid?"

"No, I'm calling you a buffoon," Spiral growled.

"I'm going to be nice and pretend that didn't offend me," Rioku retorted, scratching his temple casually with a kunai.

Spiral huffed, "Alright ninja, let's finish this quick so I can get my reward!"

I watched as Rioku's face reddened and his eye blaze with anger, "Did you just call me a- ? Oh, now you've gone and made me angry!" Bursting forth, Rioku slid the shuriken through his fingers and into the air, sending it flying for Spiral, who danced to the side. With another kunai already ready, my shinobi friend was pouncing quickly upon his prey. It wasn't but a moment later that Rioku had Spiral penned down with a kunai to his throat. A second later Spiral broke free and they were fighting again.

"Useless fool, simply useless..." I heard Veroxin murmur.

"Since he's so useless, can I have his reward?"

I slipped my gaze past Shadox and found that Aygul and Anonymous had arrived, rising from the pool of darkness that the Shadow-Shade had created.

Shadox's brows rose, "And what would you want as payment?"

"That Hummingbird Blade would do nicely," Aygul declared as she took a few sly steps forward, but Spiral slipped in and stopped her.

"Not on my watch, lovely," he snickered, standing before her unarmed as Rioku had once again thieved his whip.

Aygul's two blades flicked out like serpents' tongues, "I'm going to cut you down where you stand, jerk!"

I watched as she brought down the two blades, crossing one over the other. In a whirl of movement, but Spiral pulled out the manriki he had concealed in his sleeve and thrust it outward, wrapping the two blades together and deflecting the blow.

"You sneaky little..." Aygul growled.

"I'm more resourceful than I appear, Aygul," Spiral said grinning and I already wanted to slit his throat.

Aygul slid her blades clear of the manriki and stepped back. She looked over her shoulder at Anonymous, who nodded to her and vanished.

Rioku caught the move like a hawk and he disappeared from my sight in a breath of shadows. A moment later, the two Shadow-Shades burst from the ground, throwing their weapons in a blur of motion.

"It looks like it's just you and I, Faceless," I heard Veroxin say and I returned my attention to him.

"That is not my name," I replied firmly.

"No? But it is the one I call you, so it must be your name, Faceless." He said the name so deliberately that my cheeks burned with rage and I knocked an arrow into my double bow.

"Say it again, I dare you," my voice hissed.

"Say what..? Faceless..." Shadox said menacingly, leaping away from the arrow that snaked through the air toward him.

I ran after him, with an arrow already produced and prepared, "That is not my name!" I let fly another hasty shot and it missed. I glanced over to see how Rioku was fairing, only seeing glimpses of the two shinobi as they dived in out of the surrounding shadows.

The air beside me moved as a blade cut through it and I flinched.

"You will either submit to me now or die as a consequence," Shadox commanded me.

My eyes lit up with a fit of fury, "Then I will die rather than serve you!" I lunged forward, knocking him over swinging one end of my bow. I heard a teeth-grinding crack as my blow broke his jaw. He fell and as I prepared the killing shot while he rolled around in pain, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and found Lord Anduin standing there, staring down at me and I stepped down, fighting the urge to rip the man that lie on the ground to shreds.

About a moment later, I watched as Aygul kicked the crouching Spiral in the face and he fell back unconcious as she strolled forward casually toward my lord. I stepped in and stood in her path.

She brushed by me overconfidently, "Relax Wanderer. I'm on your side now."

By then, Anonymous and Rioku had realized what was going on and everything became a stand still. Eyes shifted and met, no one was really sure of what to do. We were enemies for so long, it was strange having to trust their words so suddenly. Finally, Anduin stepped in.

"Tie those two up. We'll question them in a few minutes," he said, throwing a wary glance to Aygul and Anonymous, who stood beside her. "You'd better let Rioku take on this one, you two. I just got out of a cold blooded battle with the two of you, so my trust is not pure just yet."

"That's understandable, Thorn," Aygul said simply, happy that she didn't have to lift a finger.

Anduin's brows rose and I shrugged as he met my gaze.

"Stranger, you take care of these two," he told me.

I nodded, placing an arrow in my bow and walked to Aygul, positioning myself before her as our party prepared to move onward, "This is just in case you get any ideas."

"Don't worry Wanderer, I don't have any... yet," she whispered to me as she brushed my shoulder. She lifted her hand and stroked my cheek, "But if I do, you must stop me."

There was something about the way she spoke the words that sent my nerves into chaos. Could it be possible?

For a long while I was to speechless to speak and stood gawking after everyone had already started on their way.

Turning, I saw Rioku was having trouble tying up Shadox and I stepped in to aid him. Then, I thrust myself backward as I heard the humming again and grew rigid as I watched the Hummingbird Blade fly past me. I grew defensive as all the blades of my friends turned against me in assumption that the Hummingbird Blade had been aimed for me but I shook my head. They turned and looked around, and thus began the screaming.

Aygul was on the ground holding the blade where it rested in her gut. It was not but a moment later her eyes burned an icy blue beneath her hood as she stood. Aygul's treacherous blades flew around, knocking back Edge where he stood beside his Master in order to reach my lord.

Anduin rose to the occasion, Ali's flame spreading over the entirety of his body, as he prepared himself to defend his Shadow.

Aygul laughed and grabbed the spear, with surprising strength she tossed it out of Anduin's reach and he stood with brows drawn as she prepared herself for the killing blow. She flicked off her hood and there was a clattering that echoed down through the cliffs.

Everyone turned to me, I had dropped my bow to the ground. No one knew but I was in a mixture of shock and delight. Here she was, the one I had been looking for. Then her words haunted my memory...

"_Don't worry Wanderer, I don't have any... yet... But if I do, you must stop me."_

It all made sense now and I knew what I had to do, I had to.

My quivering hands reached for my bow quickly and I let fly an arrow just as her blade moved to make the fatal stroke. There was a moment of shock as the female mercenary staggered back, releasing Anduin, and crumbled to the ground.

I darted to her side, releasing my grip on my bow and snatching her into my arms.

"No no, I'm sorry! I-I... Please don't go, please don't leave me here like this!" I begged her, holding back the tears so that I could see her.

"Silly Altan, I won't be gone forever..." she said, smiling weakly. Her hand rose and she pulled off my hood, sliding her hand down my cheek and then over the beating stone that was my heart.

"Hena, please, I can't live with myself, not after this, don't go," I whispered softly, my voice chipping away with grief. I held her hand that rested over my heart and brough it to my mouth, keeping it there.

She then pulled herself upward and met my lips. For a brief moment, all my troubles were forgotten as I held her in my arms. I was free, released by her lips of grace, by her tender love. I had found her. As her lips left mine, the sadness returned. I had shot her down like a doe in a meadow. My grief would consume me now until the day I die.

"Altan, don't blame yourself... not again... I had a feeling I recognized you, Stranger..." Hena paused a moment as it grew more difficult to breathe. "I... I love you Altan."

"I love you dearly, my princess," I replied, knowing well that tears were streaming down my revealed face, but I didn't care. Only she mattered to me. I pulled my cloak over her to keep her warm as snowflakes began to drift down and around us.

She rested a moment and jerked back awake, "Altan?" She said may name almost as if I had left her and I could not bare that.

"I am here," I said gently, still holding onto her hand as if it would keep her away from death.

"Altan, promise me you won't listen to... the dove..."

And she was gone, leaving me there alone to grieve.

For a moment I could not except it, I would not. I had found her and she was alive. It was my arrow that shot her down, I killed my love... My breathing grew more rapid and heavy, as though I had been running for days without stopping. Tears poured from my eyes, blurring her face in my vision,

I felt my lord's hand on my shoulder, "Altan?"

"I-I did this... I... I killed Hena..." I whimpered. My cries quickly grew into chest rattling sobs and those that tried to comfort me, I brushed them away. She was dead and I could not save her from my own mistakes.

"Hena, Hena, Hena, please... please open your eyes and look at me... smile and tell me this is all just another bad dream..." I sobbed as I layed myself beside her. "Don't leave me here to wander alone forever... Make this nightmare end."

I stroked her hair and watched her chest, longing for it to pump again with life. I rested my hand over her left breast, hoping that perhaps her heart might start beating. I wondered if I could give my heart to her so that she could live again. I would make that sacrifice if she asked me to. I wrapped my arms around her and brought her limp body closer to me and held her with my eyes shut tightly as I rested my heart against her ear. My turmoil grew to the point that my voice could no longer declare my woe, all that continued was the heaving of my chest and the tears that were produced. I did not stop until I fell asleep...

I opened them, my narrowed, emerald eyes, and I stood abruptly, stomping quickly over to where Shadox sat, being questioned by my lord. They looked up at me and I did not cease my quest.

"Altan, stop! I know your pain but he wants to help us," Anduin told me.

My eyes, for the first time without the influence of the Hummingbird Blade, began to glow green.

I addressed the matter as calmly as I could manage, "You're telling me, that I am to work side by side with that wretch?" I pointed one of my knives at Shadox and Thorn nodded.

I began to grind my teeth, "So, even after he did all this to me and used me to kill your own daughter, you're going to trust his word?"

"If I recall, you were not poisoned by the blade, Aygul was," Shadox corrected me.

In an explosion of rage, I burst forward with both blades drawn to a point, "HER NAME IS HENA!" The blades met their mark, stabbing into Shadox's gut together. I showed no emotion as I caught him within my gaze and he sat rigid with fear. A moment later, I swung the two blades that were still embedded into his gut and swung them outward in opposite directions, gutting my enemy but not killing him. Still furious, I stood over him, and pulled him to his feet, and threw a punch to his face that knocked him to the ground again. I leaned over him and growled, "I... hate... YOU!" And at that moment my right-hand blade fell and stabbed his heart... but something hard met my blade.

I stopped and he nodded, "I am a victim just like you are... I have no heart... just a beating jade, the blackest stone of them all..." And those were the last words of Shadox Veroxin.

Standing back again to my feet, I looked to the ground and dropped my knives, unable to meet the gaze of my lord.

He didn't stop me.

As I walked on to return to Hena's side, I squinted in the failing light of the evening as I saw someone near her. I darted forth and as I grew closer, saw that it was Anonymous. He was pulling on a black mass that appeared to be attached to Hena.

"STOP IT! DON'T TOUCH HER!" I screamed at the shinobi. He met my gaze with his one eye, and vanished. I looked down and began to panic as Hena's body began to blow away, turning into to a glittering dust.

I couldn't take it anymore. I pulled out one of my arrows and struck the emerald that beat against my chest... then everything ended for me.

...

Rioku stood over Stranger's slumbering body. He had found the Wanderer collapsed where Aygul had been with one of his own arrows embedded into his chest.

Sighing, the shinobi applied clean bandages to the wound, "Do you think he'll be okay, Anduin-sama?"

Thorn sighed, "I deem he will, Rioku-san. He knows good and well that he cannot be killed by stabbing his heart, but it seems the pain was of her death was enough to cause him to forget. Did you find out what happened to my daughter's shadow?"

The shinobi nodded, "I tracked Anonymous and lost him at the Güney Kapisi, or the Southern Gate. Anduin-sama, I believe I know what Anonymous's intentions are."

Thorn's brow rose, "Oh?"

"Well, you see Anduin-sama, he has no shadow and his hair is white..." Rioku paused to gather his thoughts.

Thorn crossed his arms, "And that has to do with... what exactly?"

"Only a Shadow-Shade can enter the Gölge Arsalar, or the Shadow Realm," Rioku continued.

"Yes, I know that already," Thorn replied quickly.

"Well, there's a myth that if one brings the shadow of one who has died in gerçeklik, or reality, then if their shadow was to be taken to the Shadow Realm, they could be revived there," Rioku answered, "But outside Shadow Realm, they would have to sacrifice one of their five senses: smell, touch, sight, smell, or hearing. Sometimes, they do not have the liberaty of choosing which one, particularly if..." his voice trailed off.

Thorn finished his words, "If they are not a Shadow-Shade...?"

The shinobi nodded, "Yes, that is so."

"Then perhaps there is more hope than he realizes," Thorn murmured as he looked over Stranger, who's eyes had been covered by the cream cloth that the Wanderer carried. "Even in sleep his grief is ever present."

...

**THE END**

**Part 3: The Shadow Realm **

**will be comming soon! **

**Sweey:**_** Just so you know, I bawled while writing this chapter, especially after her death. Now, note that Aygul IS Hena. Hope I made that clear... and also, Shadox Veroxin was also being controlled by the Hummingbird Blade, so... who was it really that has been making Stranger suffer for so long? IS there hope? Let's hope! haha Anonymous... is he friend or foe or is he merely looking after his old partner? Hmm... we'll find out eventually... NOW! Tell me what you thought about this story and whatnot! :D REVIEW! XD I DEMAND THEE! Make them long cuz this chapter took like five hours to type out! ;D haha**_


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